Black Skies
by Sir Raphael
Summary: With the Aparoids vanquished and Andross supposedly gone, Star Fox drifts around until they recieve an urgent message from General Pepper. Who is this new adversary, and does the team have a right to follow Pepper's wishes to invade an invading system? B2
1. Foreword, Disclaimer, & Notes

**Black Skies: Preface**

* * *

_**Disclaimer**_

* * *

I do not claim to own any part of Star Fox, which is held by Nintendo. All rights, including those to character, scenarios, and games are held by Nintendo. Unique characters and storyline are owned by me, Sir Raphael. If you wish to use these characters in a story or other piece of media, please contact me via personal message or at silverknight6 gmail . com.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**: Black Skies is intended to be a trilogy that details the adventures of the Star Fox mercenary team, the famed heroes of the Lylat System. The story takes place after the events of Star Fox 64, Star Fox: Adventures, and Star Fox: Assault. For the sake of the storyline, Star Fox, Star Fox 2, and Star Fox: Command never happened, along with the comics. 

The story contains some references to the religions of the universe, though for the sake of neutrality, I have named this deity "The Creator." I am in no way attempting to favor one god or the other, so do _not_ send me hate mail over this.

I have rated this story 'T- Teenagers' due to mild language and suggestive (sexual) themes. If you are not mature enough to read this story without bursting into laughter, then don't read any further!

That's all to say here. Author's notes in future chapters are denoted with the words '_Author's Note_:' in italics (minus the colon (in italics)).

* * *

_**Synopsis**_

* * *

Less then a few years after the Aparoid Invasion, Star Fox is once again drifting around the galaxy. They have fared far better then they did in the post-Lylat War years, taking odd jobs to sustain themselves. Fox and Krystal have become popular speakers- likewise, Slippy has become a famous and eagerly-sought technician and speechmaker. Peppy Hare is the curator of the Star Fox museum in his free time, and any diplomat or persona with enough money to do so will hire Falco Lombardi as an escort. 

This myriad of jobs keeps the Star Fox team very profitable, but its head still thirsts for some excitement. Reconstruction efforts are under way still in Corneria City, but he yearns for the thrill of combat.

For him, it is not too far off. Combat looms as the ever-growing Grallian System turns its sights upon the Lylat System. War breaks loose, and now Corneria strikes back...

* * *

_**Cast of Characters**_

* * *

_Star Fox Team_

-Fox McCloud (Leader)

-Falco Lombardi (Ace Pilot)

-Krystal --- (Telepath)

-Slippy Toad (Technical Support)

-Abbey Rimstead (Capital Ship Pilot / Weapons Specialist / Tactician)

-Peppy Hare (Senior Advisor / Capital Ship Pilot)

-ROB (Automated Droid)

_Star Wolf Team_

-Wolf O'Donnel (Leader)

-Leon Powalski (Torture Specialist / Stealth Operative / Technical Support)

-Panther Caruso (Ace Pilot)

-Katt Monroe (Combat Pilot)

_Team Elengale_

-

-

-

_Cornerian Army_

-General Pepper (General)

-Bill Grey (Major)

-Therald Pepper (Captain)

_Grallian Army_

-Tyron --- (Admiral)

-Medrion --- (Admiral)

-

_Elorian Resistance_

-

-

-

_Various_

-

-

-

* * *

_**The Technology Behind Black Skies**_

* * *

This is a section dedicated to the technology that runs the fighters of Black Skies- simple stuff we've all come to know and love, and some of the more complicated things that I introduce here.

* * *

_Arwing_: The Arwing is an all-purpose superiority fighter that is equipped with three lasers and a Nova bomb launcher. Depending on the game, it may or may not have a charge-shot launch. The weapons capabilities are as follows. 

-Lasers (Single (Nose), Twin (Wings), Hyper (Wings), Pearl (Wings): A standard laser shot that flys in a straight line.

-Charge Shot Launcher (Nose): A charged laser which fires a charged sphere of energy that homes in on an enemy. Contains about a tenth of the destructive power of a Nova Bomb, and can be fired indefinitely. It does not deal as much damage as one tenth of a Nova Bomb due to the chain reactions and aftereffects of the latter.

-Nova Bomb Launcher: Fires a Nova Bomb, an intensely powerful energy weapon which damages only metals and certain other materials. They can home in on an opponent. The ability to carry these weapons makes the Arwing into a semi-light bomber. Certain variations of the Arwing can carry more bombs and are classified as mid-level bombers.

Arwings appear in all the Star Fox games in various forms and fashions. They are as follows.

-Mark I: The Mark I Arwing has a primitive G-Diffuser system and was seen in Star Fox 64. The ship can carry a maximum of nine bombs and can fire from either the nose laser or the two side-mounted lasers (twin).

-Mark II: The Mark II Arwing was a cost-saving craft with no charging shot and a maximum payload of only three bombs. It can alternately fire lasers from its nose cannons (single) or both at once (twin). The ship's G-Diffusers are only slightly improved.

-Mark III: The Mark III is a sophisticated workhorse with powerful shielding and weaponry. It has the same capabilities as the Mark I with a boosted G-Diffuser, allowing for complete stops and other intricate maneuvers. The ship is not as maneuverable as the Mark I, but it is more versatile.

-Mark IV: The Mark IV is a prototype ship with stealth and cloaking capabilities, a legendary G-Diffuser system, and the intensely powerful pearl lasers. It can carry a large payload of nine Nova Bombs, can be equipped to fire four missiles, carries a bomb sight, and can fire a hyper laser from its nose cannon and emit an EMP pulse.

-Mark IIIa: The IIIa is a retro-fitted III with pearl lasers and improved handling. However, its overall capabilities are lower than the IV. Many in military circles deem it a pointless and costly expense.

-Mark XIB: The XIB is two Arwings joined together with a straight wing between them. This central wing carries three charging shot launchers which can each lock onto an enemy independantly. Both wings on the outside carry a two-barrel hyper laser with a twin laser redundancy, and the nose carries the standard single laser. The ship has two Nova Bomb launchers and can carry up to 14 Nova Bombs, and carries a number of advanced scanners and other utility functions controlled by the pilot on the right. The pilot on the left has a blacked-out cockpit that displays the view from the center of the ship via a camera. Due to the gun placement, the outer guns can swivel, and the right pilot can pivot each of the three charging shot launchers together, along with a single-laser automated point-defense cannon to hit enemies coming from behind.

-Mark XIC: The XIC is a specialized Arwing that carries a triple-barrel hyper laser cannon on both wings with a double-barrel hyper laser in the nose. An advanced cooling system allows all guns to fire at once for long periods of time, and the armor and shielding is reinforced. The XIC carries a large amount of power (clicks) and two charging shot launchers on both wings, along with three Nova Bomb launchers with four bombs each, making this a heavy long-range bomber. The boost suffers as a result, however.

_Lerowing_: The Lerowing is another workhorse of the elite, another all-around superiority fighter. The later models all share a circular wing, as does the first.

-Lerowing I: The I is the basic fighter, aging, but still formidable in its own right. The fuselage holds no surprises, but its wings (in a similar 'V' configuration like the Arwing) are connected by a circular support strut.

-Lerowing II: The II has a tubular hull with two vertical wings. It carries only a single laser, and was a cost-efficient way of building a large fleet. They can take considerable damage, and were seen in Star Fox: Assault.

-Lerowing III: The III is an odd tubular ship with only short, stubby wings. Despite it's formidable weaponry, they were almost all destroyed by the Aparoid Armada.

-Lerowing IV: The IV has a thin circular wing and wings jutting straight out from the fuselage. It is the workhorse of the better units of the Cornerian Millitary.

-Lerowing V: The V has a distinctive circular wing that is thicker then that of its predecessors. The standard wings have all but disappeared- the ship now resembles a Y with a circle around it (think of the standard hippie symbol). The two legs of the 'Y' shape contain a powerful G-Diffuser system, and further back on these legs are mounted powerful hyper lasers (which can be upgraded into the new pearl lasers.) The ship is a match for any Arwing.

-Lerowing Va: The Va is of the same design as the V, but it carries pearl lasers with a hyper laser redundancy set, and it caries two charge shot launchers and three Nova Bomb launchers, each with three Nova Bombs. Thus, it is classified as a medium bomber.

_Dreadnought-Class Battle Cruiser_: Another fleet workhorse, this is the design the Great Fox was built upon. It has several advantages, those being:

-The ability to carry multiple elite fighters.

-Two powerful, rapid-firing plasma cannons mounted in the front.

-Two state-of-the-art point-defense lasers mounted between the four wings.

The ship carries heavy shielding and armor, and is capable of hyperspeed jumps and ramming.

_Saber-Class Battleship_: This battleship is a standard, utilizing the many advantages of the design of a naval battleship. The ship is a marvel of technological ability, and it is an incredible foe in battle. The ship utilizes a huge array of components for its performance:

-Two Ion-Discharge Wing-Mounted Engines

-Three Ion Flame-Discharge Stern-Mounted Engines

-60 Point-Defense Lasers

-Four Heavy Turrets (Nova Bomb / Hyper Laser)

-Four Heavy Waist Turrets (Nova Bomb / Hyper Laser)

-Two Heavy Mortars (Laser Shot / Nova Bomb)

-Two Heavy Waist Mortars (Laser Shot / Nova Bomb)

-Three Smoke Generators (Two Bow / One Stern)

-Two Focal Lasers (One Bow / One Stern)

-Plasma Bolt Cannon (Stream Fire: Two Panels Mounted in Bow)

-Three Hangars (Two Rear Command Post / One Below Bridge

-Two Wing-Mounted Forward Cannons

-Two Bow-Mounted Cannons

-Four Focal Laser Chargers

_Cornerian Fighter_: The standard ship for a standard pilot, this has two gull wings and a powerful single engine. The ship carries an advanced G-Diffuser system and twin/hyper lasers.

_Standard Fighter_: A Grallian standard fighter equipped with twin lasers and a charge-shot launcher. It carries only weak shielding and armor.

_Anti-Fighter Craft_: These ships possess an 'H' shape and are equipped with one central tracking laser and two anti-fighter machine guns on both forward 'prongs' of the 'H.' Boosters are mounted on the rear 'prongs,' and the main engine lies behind the cockpit in the center.

_Weapon Platform Craft_: These ships have a large arrays of weapons that might better fit a small cruiser. Equipped with hyper and twin lasers, a redundancy single laser, a bomb and missile launcher, a basic focal laser, two forward-mounted plasma cannons, and heavy shields and armor, they have less manuverability then other fighters, but they can take far more damage.

_Heavy Defense Craft_: A heavy, stubby ship with two powerful plasma cannons mounted in the front. It isn't fast, but it's got incredible shielding and armor.

_Light Cruiser_: The light cruiser is a 50-100 man ship that forms the backbone of most modern starfleets. They are small enough to be controlled by a helm, yet heavy enough to carry multiple weapons systems, including point-defense lasers. They are ideal dropships, with the armor and shielding to withstand multiple blows, yet quick enough to avoid sustaining critical damage.

_Destroyer_: Unique to the Cornerian Army, the destroyer is a 150-200 man ship that is larger than a light cruiser but smaller then an actual cruiser. They are generally long and thin, and are controlled via a helm. These ships provide anti-fighter cover, and are very manuverable and carry more point-defense lasers then actual cannons.

_Cruiser_: Cruisers are 250-300 man ships that are controlled through a computer, but still able to be flown via a helm. They are well-armored and manuverable, and carry a formidable weapon defense system. Many are capable of launching fighters. The cruiser is the first ship able to effectively conduct a bombardment on the planetary scale. These also provide heavy artillery cover for larger ships, taking blows to save the battle ships.

_Small Cruiser_: Used by both the Grallian and Cornerian fleets, these ships carry a crew of 5-10 men, and carry one point-defense laser and an escape pod. They generally have wide wings and two forward-mounted plasma bolt cannons. Some have missile launchers and the Cornerian cruisers have two forward-mounted plasma cannons, not to be mistaken with the streaming-fire plasma cannons.

_Wildfire-Class Cruiser_: The Wildfire-Class Cruiser forms the backbone of the Cornerian starfleet, with multiple streaming-fire plasma cannons. They are manuverable and easily three-fourths of the size of a Dreadnought Battle Cruiser, making them the largest cruisers in the fleet.

_Brave-Class Bomber_: The Brave-Class Bomber is a wide, short (vertically), delta-shaped ship with a forward cockpit and a long ion-flame discharge engine mounted on the underbelly. Four point-defense lasers, along with two plasma bolt cannons and an automated defense turret protect this bomber, which can carry up to 200 Nova Bombs, 200 missiles, and a maximum payload of 400 heavy all-purpose guided bombs. They are fairly fast, but are difficult to manuver. Used by the Cornerians.

_Elterian Bomber_: A Grallian bomber that resemblesd an upright rectangle with a gradually sloping top and a slanted front. On the front is the cockpit, and towards the bottom are two semi-circular bulges and a thick rectangular wing that protrudes from the bottom. Five powerful ion-flame discharge engines are mounted on the ship's lower half (in the back), and a small aperture at the top (of the stern) can launch up to five fighters and an escape pod. Ten recessed point-defense lasers defend this ship, along with a powerful frontal battery of six plasma bolt cannons. The ship can carry up to 400 missiles and up to a stunning 1,000 heavy guided bombs, and is heavy armored and shielded. While not incredibly fast, it can turn rather quickly and can make hyperspace leaps for longer than theBrave-Class bomber. Because of this, the Elterian Bomber is feared throughout Grall.

Several hijacked and modified Elterians are in service and used by the Elorian Resistance.

_Courier-Class Fighter_: A sleek, elegant fighter that is rectangular in shape. The cockpit is a rectangular square of glass mounted at an upwards angle. The single engine is mounted on a swivel between two sections, and it carries two powerful boosters on the side. Guided missiles are mounted on both sides of the ship, and the Courier can carry two. On both sides of the front is a powerful hyper laser cannon, and in the front is a magnetic grapnel and EMP Canister Launcher. It carries a Field Rift and is used by the Elorian Resistance. (For appearance, think of a Sprint Samsung A900 that's black in color. The external display is the cockpit, the service light is the Field Rift, the camera swivel is the engine, the speakers are the guns, etc.)

* * *

_Laser_: A generic energy weapon that fires in a straight line. 

_Nova Bomb_: A powerful weapon that can home in on an enemy and destroy it with a massive explosion. Carried usually by Arwings.

_Blaster_: A hand-held laser, either in a pistol or a rifle.

_Machine/Gattling Gun_: A weapon that fires out a stream of laser bullets. Generally devestating against vehicles.

_Focal Laser_: A powerful weapon that can be mounted on a blaster, but is most commonly used on a ship. It runs a laser current along the lines of a ship, firing it from a pointed edge on the ship ().

_Missile_: A self-propelled rocket that homes in on an enemy and explodes on contact. Varieties include EMP, Armor-Piercing, and Incinderary (Explosive).

_Plasma Bolt Cannon_: Used on Cornerian Wildfire-Class Cruisers, these fire a stream of blue light at a foe in pulses lasting several seconds. Devestating against shields.

_Plasma Cannon_: A weapon that fires a powerful plasma bolt at an enemy.

_Point-Defense Laser_: A revolving turret on a ship that is used to rapidly fire lasers at an oncoming foe, usually a fighter.

_EMP Canister Launcher_: Fires a revolving cylindrical canister which explodes in an EMP pulse.

* * *

_G-Diffuser System_: Mounted in 'wings,' these enable superiority fighters to come to complete stops and pull otherwise impossible aerial manuvers. They hold a ship together during such moves and in rough conditions, and prevent the pilot from developing nasuea by keeping the gravity within the fighter relative to the cockpit. 

_Gravity Blade_: Another wing-mounted system, the Gravity Blade is similar to the G-Diffuser System, but it offers more speed and effectiveness in tight turns. Unfourtunately, it cannot bring a ship to a standstill. It uses less power then a G-Diffuser System.

_Field Rift_: The Grallian equivilant of a gravity system, this localizes the local graviational fields to allow for greater manuverability.

* * *

_Power_: Power is the generic unit for energy, used for shielding, lasers, and fuel. While the boosters on ships do not drain their power cells, the main engine, shields, and lasers do. The Cornerian measure of power is the click, the measure of which is displayed in a horizontal window that subtracts a given number from the total amount of clicks every second. A typical Arwing IV uses two clicks a second for thrust, two clicks for the G-Diffuser Systems, and one click for the computer. Thus, a drain rate of five clicks a second.

* * *

**Table of Contents**

_Prologue: Unveiled Threats_

_Book I: Lylat_

_Book II: Eloria_

_Book III: Grall_

_Epilogue: War's End_

* * *


	2. o Prologue o Unveiled Threats

**Black Skies**

* * *

**Prologue: Unveiled Threats**

* * *

"No man can command at sea farther than his guns can reach." –Admiral Tromp

* * *

"_If I have to make one more publicity tour, I'm going to..." _–Fox McCloud 

"_Poor Fox. The man needs some excitement! But what to do?" _–Krystal

"_I feel the days of Star Fox are waning, but I am ever so reluctant to give it up and go into retirement. For the sake of Lylat, I suppose I must stay on, at least for awhile longer." ­_–Peppy

"_I can't wait to get my hands on the Arspace prototypes! There must be a way to see them 'afore they're released!"_ –Slippy

* * *

_Description: _The Grallian invasion has been launched, and Lylat is once more in peril. Yet who are these enemies, and what are their motives? What allies will come to the aid of Star Fox in what may be its direst hours? Who to trust, and who to fight? What now, is right and wrong? The beginning of the Black Skies saga begins here, on the same fateful planet as beginnings of the Lylat War, the Aparoid War, and the Saurian Affair- a planet steeped in the past, and sprinting for the future. How will Star Fox react to its new occupation- and will it survive?

* * *

_Author's Note_: This is the first book of Black Skies, a prologue and introductory to the rest of the story. You might say the first three chapters are the prologue of the prologue- thus, don't be annoyed when you see their lack of length. The characters are introduced one by one, and some surprising ones will make their appearance later. That's all to say- Auf Wiedersehen! And no, I'm not German.

* * *

_Featured Biographies:_

-Therald Pepper  
-Abbey Rimstead


	3. So It Begins

**Black Skies****  
**

* * *

_Author's Note: _My first publication. Actually, not quite, but rather, the first I've ever done on Star Fox. I've been reading the stories of others here, and I must say, this is my absolute favorite section on the site. Specifically, I must say that the works of Kit-Karamak (Reflections), Foxmerc (Overlord Trilogy), and Destructor (Phoenix From the Ashes) were extremely fun to read. I'm not sure if I can match that. I'm more of a medivial writer- but hey, I love the Star Fox games, and you've gotta start somewhere, right? Well, that's the end of this note. Please read and review!

* * *

**Chapter 1 So it Begins  
**

* * *

"ROB, give me an ETA." The speaker, a brown-furred fox of average height tapped on a console, bringing up a detailed chart, crossed with a yellow line. A small dot on the line was blipping softly, as well as emitting a circle of light that expanded outwards before vanishing. 

"Estimated time of arrival- ten minutes." came a mechanical voice from a robot, standing at another console. The robot, yellow played and humanoid in shape flexed its fingers, typing at a keyboard in front of it. "We will be entering Cornerian airspace in approximately eight minutes."

"Thank you, ROB." answered the fox. The robot whirred, acknowledged the gesture, and resumed clicking away at the keyboard. The fox, meanwhile, turned on the spot to face his team. Numbering five in all, including him, they were sitting on chairs that spread across the room.

"Team, General Pepper requires assistance. ROB, can you turn on the projector?" The hologram display system in the center of the room fired up, displaying a map of their location- the Lylat System, a galaxy of many varied planets, centered around a star- Sol.

"We've fought Venom, many times." said the fox, motioning briefly to the yellow and green planet at one end. "But we're not going to do so this time. This time, our adversaries are a bit further away, and significantly more dangerous." At this, the team stirred- _more dangerous then Venom?_ No planet had caused the group more grief then that forsaken ball of gas and rock. The figure continued on, "This time, we are fighting the Grall System." The hologram zoomed out briefly to show a single planet, blue in color, and dotted here and there with white clouds.

"Is that it?" cut in one of the team members, a blue-feathered falcon. The avian was slouching back in his chair, his feet resting on a keyboard. The toad behind him was looking clearly irritated, but didn't speak. "One planet's a system now?" continued the bird. "We've fought things a lot bigger then that hunk. Come on, Fox!"

Fox McCloud, the fox at the head of the room, sighed in exasperation. "I never said it was, Falco. Our star maps don't have the data to display the rest of the system. Rest assured, it's big. General Pepper showed me a chart- this thing is massive, containing close to fifty astral bodies. It's got at least three stars in there, along with some asteroid belts. We weren't able to hold onto the chart, but I'm assuming Pepper will give us that later."

"Damn." whistled Falco, leaning back further in his chair, nearly tipping it over. The toad behind it gave the chair a kick- the Falcon went spinning backwards, landing in an undignified heap of wings and feathers. He leapt up, growling, when a hare slid in between the two, his fur turning slightly grey here and there, but still looking healthy and full.

"Falco, Slippy, don't go at it again." warned the hare. "Not when we're getting our mission briefing. Falco, if you want Slippy to stop kicking your chair, maybe you should get your paws off of his keyboard. Slippy, don't kick Falco. He'll probably try to eat you, knowing him."

"Eat him?" said the falcon in disgust. "Why, I'd never think of eating that piece of-"

"SHUT UP!" bellowed Fox. The entire team looked at him, aghast. "We're not going to get anywhere by fighting, and our ETA is in about five minutes!" Bad temperedly, the fox slammed his paw onto the projector, causing the image to flicker slightly.

"Now," he continued, "the Grall System is rather...imperialistic. They need more resources, more land. They've already attacked the neighboring systems, and taken over those. It's why Grall is so big already. Now, they've turned to Lylat, even though we're at least twice the distance away as the farthest conquered system. They've got ships that match those of the Cornerian Starfleet, as well as decent pilots as well. Seeing as how Corneria's the only planet with a respectable air force- now, Slippy, I know Aquas has got some war subs, but that's it- they're taking the blunt of the blows. So far, those haven't been extraordinarily heavy- the foe's too far away to launch any sort of sneak attack, and we've always been ready. Now, though, they're bringing out capital ships, ships that are at least thrice the size of the Great Fox, and far more heavily armed."

"Our mission seems to be simple- destroy these ships, and hopefully, press on to Grall and capture the capital. We'll have help, don't worry- I don't fancy charging headlong into a star system that big either. But it'll be dangerous, maybe more so then the Venomian Wars. We'll be flying our Arwings, as usual, and I'm calling one more member of our team."

"Another one?" asked the hare, confused. "I've come out of retirement, and that brings us to five. Who is it this time?" The fox smiled.

"Abbey Rimstead. She's an otter pilot, just dismissed from a short stint with the Cornerian Star Fleet. She's an excellent pilot, and quite a good tactician as well. She'll help ROB pilot the Great Fox unless she's needed as a fighter." 

Fox nodded at them all. "Team dismissed. Pack whatever you want, we're staying on Corneria."

"Entering Cornerian atmosphere." came ROB's voice as the team left the room.

* * *

"Doubtless, Fox has seen fit to brief you on what your mission is. There isn't a whole lot more for me to say. You will be accompanied by the Streak Birds, a ten-man squadron of pilots that form our elite band. They fly Lerowing V's, which are slightly superior to your own craft." General Pepper frowned, adjusting his spectacles for a moment, looking at the team. "I did offer an upgrade to your ships, or get new ones if you'd like, you know The Arwing IV's are still prototypes, maybe, but they are available to pilots of your caliber.." 

"Not to worry, General." piped up Slippy. "I did a job on these Arwings, and you'll find they're better then you'd expect."

"We're also pleased with our ships, as is." said the hare, Peppy. "They've been through a lot, and I'd prefer not to let mine go, actually." Falco began to argue, and then thought the better of it.

"As long as I can blow things out of the sky, I'm fine." he said. The group laughed quietly at this.

"The Great Fox, though." said Fox suddenly, causing the group to look at him. "It could use some upgrades, so long as they're reliable and don't fail on us."

"That can be arranged." said Pepper. "We can upgrade your maximum speed, manuverability, shielding, and weapon systems. If that is all, you are dismissed. Report back at 1500 hours tommorow for launch clearance- though be warned, you may be scrambled earlier."

The team was already out the door before Pepper finished. The old hound shook his head and closed his eyes.


	4. Enter the Otter

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note: _One review, one chapter. Well, really, that was more of a Prologue then a chapter. Thanks to V-Starfox, your review told me at least someone was reading this, and as long as I've got at least one reader, I'll keep writing. Well, I would anyway, but that helped. 

I know the first chapter was short, sorry about that. There was originally a bit more, along with a second chapter, but I looked at them, figured that they sucked, and I cut it down to the bare bones. I'll try and make this a bit longer, sorry if it's still a bit short, and I apologize if the beginning is a bit...weird. Never was too good at starting chapters...well, oh well! Read and review, please!

* * *

**Chapter 2 Enter the Otter  
**

* * *

The Arwing vibrated beneath the otter's feet as it spun tightly on the spot, its G-Diffusers flaring as the craft spun 170 degrees. Two bluish lasers lanced out from the wing blasters, reducing a pursuer to debris. Inside her cockpit, the otter whooped and cheered, pulling the ship into a barrel roll. A series of laser bolts ricocheted off the armored hull as a trace teal field surrounded the craft.

* * *

Fox tapped his paw on the table offhandedly, watching the monitor intensely. "She's quite good." he remarked. "Last time we tried this simulator, we beat it more quickly, but that was after several rounds of practice." 

Falco, sitting nearby, grinned wolfishly, then glanced at Fox. The vulpine nodded, and Falco turned to face General Pepper, who was also watching the events onscreen. "Those simulators are on the next floor up, right?"

"Indeed, they are." said the canine. "I suppose you'd like to-"

He never got to finish, as both pilots had dashed from the room for the second time in that many days. Pepper rolled his eyes quietly.

* * *

_Eight years prior...

* * *

_"_I'm on my way!" promised the fox onscreen. Abruptly, the transmission ended. A much younger General Pepper let out an exasperated sigh, jamming the return transmission button on his console. _

"_Moving too fast?" he muttered, seeing the message that had come up on his viewscreen. "What in the devil is McCloud thinking? Is he going to barrel the Great Fox into orbit at that kind of speed?"_

"_General Pepper! We're picking up another transmission from Andross!" called an officer standing nearby. "He demands our immediate surrender! Putting him on the main viewscreen-"_

"_General Pepper, I am tired of your insolence!" thundered the white-haired ape. His visage was twisted, a mask of cold fury. "Surrender your base and lower the planetary shields or be destroyed!"_

"_We should have killed you while you were on Corneria." replied the general disgustedly. Andross laughed._

"_But instead you send Star Fox against me. James was a worthy foe, but even your famed McClouds could not break my defenses." Pepper leapt up._

"_That pilot risked himself willingly- and don't lie to me!" shouted the hound. "We know exactly how far he got- like how he destroyed your bioweapon plant! Are you planning to take us down with three monsters? Cowardly scum, you had to shoot off both wings, his nose cannon, AND his G-Diffuser system before that pilot went down, and even then, he STILL managed to crash his Arwing into your main reactor! How'd you like that, eh? I'll tell you now, his SON is here to finish the job his father began- and on my medals he'll win!"_

"_You foolish-" began the ape when the transmission crackled and cut. The communications officer turned again, his face beaming._

"_Sir, the Venom communication beacon has been destroyed! We're getting reports from the Streak Birds that four Arwings have just entered the combat zone!"_

"_Thank the Creator." said Pepper, his worn face also breaking into a smile. The hound snatched up a nearby microphone and switched it on, his voice booming over the PA._

"_Defenders of Corneria, take hope! Four of the most advanced pilots in the Lylat System have just entered the combat zone! Rest assured, they will take care of every fighter in the sky! Do your part, and clear the ground! This is not the day we fall!" _

_Pepper silenced the microphone, then looked around. Sourly, he admitted Corneria's military was out of date, but it still heartened him to see the determined line of LandMaster tanks standing outside, their barrels red from heat, their armor bent and battered, but their guns firing all the while. And then, looking out the window, he spotted four sleek shapes, flying in a diamond formation. Abruptly, the four scattered, one pulling up, two heading left and right, and the fourth increasing speed and flying dead ahead. Instinctively, Pepper knew who it was._

_The general turned to his other viewscreens. The Streak Birds had taken out the two-legged missile platform in an isolated field, far from Corneria City where it had rampaged amok. Then, suddenly, the light was illuminated with four brilliant blue flashes. It was exactly five minutes since Star Fox arrived. Pepper swiveled around quickly, and saw an awe-inspiring sight- a massive explosion in a side valley, where the enemy command ship had been. _

"_Fox here." came a voice over the base's comm. system. "We've won." Stunned silence- then cheering...  
_

* * *

Pepper smiled. That had been one of the greatest moments of his life- and career. The Venomian ground forces had surrendered almost immediately, particularly when Star Fox flew back and Slippy locked two Nova Bombs onto them. They'd all seen the initial flashes of blue those bombs created- and knew their commander had gone with them. But Fox was hasty as always, and Pepper resigned himself now to that fact. _He'll never change._

* * *

Falco swung himself into one of the six simulators lining the wall. The first was closed, and was rocking in its cradle. He smiled, and gave the thumbs-up to Fox, who was climbing into the next one. The cockpit closed, and he grinned. 

"Let's rock 'n roll." he said. He heard Fox groan before his cockpit closed as well, sealing the two pilots off before the viewscreens flickered to life, and their craft rumbled as they launched from Corneria Base.

* * *

"What the heck?" exclaimed the otter in disbelief. Two blips had suddenly appeared on the ship's radar, coming out of nowhere. "This wasn't in the program!" she muttered, looking at the program description on the main computer. Suddenly, her ship rocked, and an alarm blared. 

"Curses." she muttered, pulling her craft to the left. Most of the shots that came in the next few seconds bounced off with loud pings. As she pulled out of the roll, she noted that her shields were at 80. Two ships were circling her, their gun mounts erupting into flashes of blue as they fired. "Arwings?" She yanked her ship upwards, sending it spiraling into the sky before she flipped it over above the clouds and plummeted downwards. As she fell, she locked onto one of the Arwings, locked, and fired a Nova Bomb. The craft nimbly zipped around a building, the bomb vaporizing the structure and leaving the other Arwing intact. She lost sight of her second adversary when something came over her speakers.

"Nice try, missie." The otter suddenly grew pale. She knew that voice, she'd heard it before. Before she could figure out the answer, another voice, full of admonishment came.

"Falco! You've blown our cover!" yelled a fox. The otter suddenly realized who these two were. Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi, the two best pilots of the squadron- the squadron she'd just applied for.

"Yeah, yeah!" said Falco, "Pay attention to the fact that she nearly blew you up with a bomb too."

"Shut up." called the fox crossly. "Okay, missie, since I assume you know who we are now, we're here to test you and see what you've got" As he spoke, the otter, Abbey saw one of the Arwings pull into a loop, coming squarely behind her. "Just try us."

"Just know you'll lose." added Falco, manuvering towards the ground and vanishing from Abbey's sensors.

"Fine. And sure." she muttered under her breath, reaching with one paw towards a lever while jerking the control stick upwards, bringing her craft into an upwards spiral again. As she disappeared into the cloud layer again, Fox looped in a lazy circle, sticking close to the ground to scramble sensor readings. He looked up, and saw Abbey's craft dropping from the skies, searching for a target.

"Just like I figured." he mumbled under his breath, waiting for the opposing Arwing to come directly into his sights before he fired a volley of lasers and a Nova Bomb. The otter was hit several times before she barrel rolled to deflect the other shots. One rebounding laser struck Fox's craft, knocking his shields down to 96- nothing serious, but blood had been drawn. He watched, amused, as Abbey daringly braked and slammed her craft downwards, causing the bomb to soar by before detonating.

Abbey, meanwhile, was at 60 percent shields, although her armor was not compromised. She slid back a panel in one of the cockpit sides and began to manipulate the switches there, shutting off power to some of her low-end sensors, the nose blaster, and her Nova Bomb charger. The Nova Bombs dated back to the Lylat Wars, but as of yet, no one had figured out how to match them in power. While expensive to manufacture, they could be put out in mass numbers, and their cost lay mainly in the complex charging system, which charged the equivalent of a small star within the red shell of the bomb until it became unstable. The pilot then had about 15 seconds to launch the bomb before the unstable shell exploded violently, releasing a small supernova, without the subsequent possibility of a implosion.

Switching off the launcher and charger, Abbey thought on the fight's progress. _Falco's somewhere, and I can't beat Fox in a straight out gunfight..._ Idly, she wondered how good at dodging Fox was. _I'll try it,_ she resolved. She brought her computer main screen up, then reached for a set of sliders mounted behind a dashboard panel, sliding one set up, and another down. The computer flashed a warning, but Abbey silenced it and flipped through pages quickly until she reached a set of virtual sliders, moving those with her fingers.

She'd done this all in about five seconds. Fox was still spewing lasers at her, but he'd only knocked her shields down about 10 more. Abbey grimaced, then flipped a switch. Her computer instantly blared an alarm, proclaiming that her rear shields had collapsed.

_I know that, _she thought irately. _After all, I rerouted the power for that into the forward defenses._ She turned the craft, then punched the button for the boosters and soared forward, pointing directly towards Fox. A shower of blue lasers flared up to greet her.


	5. Here We Go!

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Heh, until now, I never _fully_ noticed how much smaller stories show up on the web then on your word processor. Well, maybe not quite, seeing as how I've done it before, but I keep misjudging chapter length. Probably because web pages display stories with no margins and page limitations...enough rambling. I promised a longer chapter earlier, well, here it is, and hopefully it'll actually be long. Thanks to V-Starfox again. Battle scenes are much more enjoyable to write, although these simulation battles are starting to get to me...at least they're better then constant talking. Thanks again! Please read and review!

* * *

**Chapter 3 Here we go!

* * *

**Abbey felt the cockpit jolt heavily as the frontal shields flared, shimmering into sight as a bluish tint around the craft that resembled heat waves. The otter winced. Had her shields been in the standard 60-40 percent front-back setting, they would have collapsed by now. As it was, the shields weren't designed to be recalibrated to the extent that she had done- 99-1 percent. An alarm was still pulsing on the dashboard, warning her that a strike from behind could be near fatal, but she was past caring. Besides, it was a sim- who cared? 

She didn't barrel roll. The boosters were still glowing behind her, that she knew from the cockpit's steady rumbling, but already her strengthened shields had dropped to 80 percent. She gritted her teeth and kept going, stopping with a lurch when her boost meter indicated that the boosters now needed to cool. She plowed onwards, wincing at each hit, but for fear of throwing her plan off, she still refused to roll.

In his cockpit, Fox admired the bravery of the otter. He didn't think for a second that she was stupid enough to do this for the sake of getting some shots in. He had the superior defensive position, after all, and his hyper lasers were still burning into the other Arwing. Still, he took advantage of her approach, while casting about for an explanation to her move. He was stationary, barrel rolling in space to deflect the few lasers fired back at him- _wait stationary?_ he thought. _What's wrong here- oh, no._

"Falco, damnit, where are you!" shouted the fox as he tried to swerve away. Abbey was trying to ram him- that much he knew. But a nagging voice in the back of his head said otherwise. This didn't feel right either, even as he struggled to accelerate in a fashion that wouldn't lead to a head-on collision.

The answer to his unspoken question came in a few seconds. Instead of ramming her ship directly into Fox, the otter rolled her craft over 90 degrees, putting her wings perpendicular to that of Fox's. Before the startled pilot could react, Abbey's ship had whizzed by him- the charged frontal shields on her wing completely shearing off Fox's right wing. The other Arwing continued on its flight path, not damaged in the slightest from the collision. As Abbey had expected, her shields had taken the physical damage easily, and there was only a 1 percent reduction in strength, which the generator soon repaired anyway.

Fox, meanwhile, was busy swearing at Falco while he tried to get his damaged ship under control. His eyes flicked with practiced ease over the damage assessment playing out on his mainscreen- his right boosters were shot, halving his maneuvering ability and boost endurance, his right wing was gone, dramatically reducing his flight handling, the right G-Diffuser wings had been mangled to the extent where they were only at 20 percent efficiency, and the other pair was being overstressed as a result. His left hyper laser was gone, and the other one was now unstable, unable to take the entire power allotment from the powerful cell that drove it and its twin. The fox pulled up on his control stick, his Arwing driving into the sky, trailing a smoke contrail that could be seen for miles. Left with only his nose blaster, Fox quickly realized that he probably wouldn't be of much use in this dogfight, and regretfully, as multiple critical system failure alerts came up on his mainscreen, he flipped a cover open and pressed the eject button.

"Later, Falco. Good luck to you." he said sarcastically as his cockpit detached from the hull of the ship, jetting upwards, then at the apex of its arch, firing thrusters and driving the pod towards the outskirts of the city. Fox prepared for a rough simulated crash-landing.

"Nice going, Foxie." muttered Falco. His Arwing had been mining into a building with lasers. In an uncharacteristically cunning maneuver, he'd drilled a hole through a large office building, and his Arwing was now resting inside it, nose pointed out towards the sky. Completely invisible to radar and sensors, and protected from visual detection on three sides, the bird of prey patiently waited for his foe to appear before him.

It didn't take long. Abbey had unwisely jetted around the building, overconfident after downing Fox. Falco had three Nova Bombs ready, and once Abbey was into the clear, with no large buildings to cover her, Falco jetted out behind her, centered his crosshairs and not bothering to lock, and fired several volleys of hyper lasers and his entire bomb compliment. Abbey spotted the flashes too late, and her ship's engine failed after being struck from behind, the hyper lasers burning through the armor after the first few volleys. She was about to hit the eject button when the three Nova Bombs struck home, vaporizing her ship instantly.

The otter stared at the blank screen in front of her before bad-temperedly punching the cockpit open and clambering out disgustedly. Fox was leaning on a wall, watching the monitor. He turned towards the approaching footfalls, and spoke, a twinkle in his eye.

"Careless." he said. "You shouldn't have gone around in such a slow loop. That was a fancy trick though, with the barrel roll. It's been so long since I fought against a kamikaze fighter that I'd forgotten the patterns." This was a typical assessment from Fox, who always managed to blend compliments with constructive criticism. Abbey looked nonplussed for a moment, then Falco joined them, still looking exuberant.

"Unlike you, Fox, we falcons can wait a bit before we strike." he said, grinning broadly. "Even if that wasn't my kind of dogfight."

"Birdbrain, you're all beak. You just got lucky. Where's the bold Falco now, hiding in an office building?"

"I'm smart enough NOT to get blasted."

"You're an idiot."

The two pilots continued arguing on good-naturedly. Abbey watched interested in learning what she could of the team leader and his ace wingmate. Finally, Fox turned and coughed.

"You passed the test. Anyone who can down me through luck or skill deserves a shot." he said. Falco snorted, but Fox shot him a warning glance to shut him up.

"Thanks." replied the otter. "I don't think we were, er, properly introduced. I'm Abbey."

"Fox McCloud."

"Falco Lombardi."

Done with this, Fox resolved to analyze the flight data. Falco and Abbey both went with him as he walked off, holding a data chip.

"We need a team session soon." he reflected aloud. "Meet me down here in the simulators at 2000 hours for a 2-hour run. Until then, do what you want to do. Unless you mean to watch this mess."

* * *

_Two hours later..._

"It all just comes down to being alert." Fox groused. "Next time I see someone flying at me, I'll actually interpret it as a ram. And Falco's just being a jerk." He tucked the chip away for future reference, then went down the hangar. He wanted to take his Arwing out for a short jaunt. Nothing particularly dangerous. Just a short sightseeing trip over the landscape.

* * *

_Several hours after that..._

"How was your flight, Fox?" asked Slippy.

"Fine." replied the vulpine. "Nothing too interesting. Took a potshot at that metal giant we blew up in the Lylat Wars, there's still scrap everywhere on the shore."

"The first Nova Bomb tests." added Slippy. "They're still great an all, but Fox, we need more firepower."

"Maybe later, Slippy." remarked Fox absently. He was remembering that incident- flying through the waterfall, enemy bio-bombers, and the command ship at the end.

"Come on, Fox." came another voice. Fox turned, and was pleasantly surprised to see Krystal. The vixen had washed herself and changed into her flight uniform.

_That's another thing about us,_ thought Fox with a grin. _We don't care much for flight uniforms. We're fine to fly in anything. Falco wears a suit of armor for the Creator's sake!_

"It's 2000 hours, right? Then let's get in. I asked Beltino to put in one of the gauntlet fighting simulations on, after we do some formation and free-form flying. He also booted up the Great Fox maps, so we can launch and land there, instead of from base. Come on, team, choose your sim, and hop in!"

The assembled team took whatever 'Arwing' was closest and hopped in. Peppy settled into a soft armchair and turned on a set of monitors, one a split-screen system that would show the progress of each team member, the other a comm. screen. He turned to this and punched in Beltino's call code.

"We're ready to start the simulation." he offered. The toad nodded quickly and cut the screen, saying "Busy, I'll have it up in a sec."

Soon enough, the other monitor crackled to life. All seven parts of the screen showed the star-spangled void of space, framed by the end of the Great Fox's hangar aperture. This flickered, and a force field vanished. Peppy listened to the team calling in, then realized with a jolt where he _should _be- working with Abbey in the simulation of the Great Fox's control bridge. The Dreadnaught simulator came standard in most bases, for upgraded versions of the design were increasingly becoming the most popular design for Cornerian capital ships. Most of these now carried Lerowings, sleek cockpits encircled by a circular wing, with the Arwing's trademark G-Diffuser wings on the back. Still, a few carried Arwing III's, albeit, those painted with the army green and orange color scheme.

_Oh well._ thought Peppy. _Let's see how she does by herself- I'll just stand here and advise everyone. I've retired twice now- I deserve the rest._ The hare adjusted his spectacles and grinned, reclining slightly. This was bound to be interesting.

* * *

"Slippy here, I'm set." 

"Falco here, I'm ready."

"This is Krystal, ready to fly!"

"Fox here, let's get ready to rock!"

"Abbey here, I'm preparing the launching sequence. Hang on..." There was a whirr, and then all four Arwings moved up on their launch tracks, the two spare tracks remaining in storage positions. Then, when the Great Fox's computer judged the Arwings to be fully operational, the launch catapult whined to life, and propelled by an ion discharge hurled the four Arwings into space, where they rolled quickly before opening the wings and disengaging the launch boosters.

"Okay team," called Fox, "We're going to do our standard formation flying, then you'll get five minutes of free-flight before we start the main sim. Now, get into the standard diamond formation, then perform your engagement maneuvers. On my mark..."

The team quickly settled into its famous diamond formation, then on Fox's call split. Fox's craft accelerated forwards, Falco's pulled straight up into the sky, while Krystal and Slippy quickly rolled to the left and right. This was the team's standard engagement maneuver, used to clear the team quickly from its effective cruising formation. After a few more minutes of formations, and some more minutes after that for free-flying, Fox called the squadron to order.

"We're starting the gauntlet simulation in 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1- mark!"

Slippy's voice became higher pitched as adrenaline took ahold of him- "Bogey on the radar screen, three marks to the right! I've got it!" The team having correctly returned to cruising formation, Slippy rolled to his right and dispatched the enemy, a nondescript fighter with one laser. The toad used his Arwing's scanners and quickly sent a report to his teammates, detailing the fighter's specs- a low-power laser, no shielding, and 2 inch armor.

After completely taking apart several waves of these, each one increasing the number of ships exponentially, Beltino's voice came over the comm.

"Very good, team. You're moving on to attacking capital ships now. Good luck!"

"1 large hyperspace trace coming on our left flank- there!" called the toad again, quickly reading the data on his mainscreen. A typical Bettarion-Class Battleship appeared on their left side. Of the battleships in the system, the Bettarion-Class was the most widely produced, being used most infamously by Venom as a small-planet attack ship. Slippy rattled off the specs from memory.

"Grade A5 shielding, 1 foot armoring, 2 feet around the engines and lasers, 20 anti-aircraft turrets, 5 heavy belly turrets, 10 medium-bore laser turrets on each side, multiple point-defense laser guns, and a Grade A10 laser turret on the front top for artillery, fighter compliment of 20 ships and 2 EMP probes."

"Yeah yeah, we hear yah." replied Falco, who'd broken formation and was now chasing one of the launched defense ships. As he destroyed it, Slippy checked its information as well, based on the computer's analysis of the explosion.

"The fighters have a Class D medium laser, Class C shielding, and 2 inches of armor. Watch out, these guys have smart missiles and are capable of emitting EMP flak."

"No problem." replied Fox, flipping his craft upside down to dodge a laser shot. "Team, switch your wingtip magnetic polarity. I want our deflection shields running at maximum efficiency, and I want your wingtip polarity changed to deflect the flak during barrel rolls. Careful, all!" As he spoke, Fox's hyper lasers burned out and destroyed another fighter.

"Got him!" called Krystal, having switched to her nose blaster for precision shooting. "But my telepathy doesn't work on simulated beings, so please, be careful!"

"What she said." grumbled Falco. He swooped upwards and came down behind the missile that had been following him, shooting it down and flying through the resulting explosion, whooping happily. His exuberance disappeared when he dodged another fighter. As soon as he entered its wake, all his systems but the protected communications line powered down.

"What the crap?" he yelled. Slippy's face appeared on his comm. window.

"I told you to watch for EMP flak." the toad warned, then grinning, shut off the communication before Falco could curse him out. The toad, rolled himself, the reversed polarity on his wingtips shunting the deadly flak away from him. "Firing a Nova Bomb, clear the area, you don't want to be shaken by the concussion."

Slippy's shot was dead perfect- the red shell arced towards the battleship. The toad had made good use of his scanners, determining exactly when the battleship would open its hangar doors. The bomb flashed in before the emerging fighters could think about what had happened, and as it streaked down the hall and hit the back wall, it blew up with a blue flash. The battleship crumbled from the inside out, but was still firing. Slippy looked disappointed.

"Dang, the bulkheads held." he muttered.

"Slippy, that was a good shot!" chided Krystal. "You just got unlucky." The vixen dove down towards one of the defense turrets, aiming to fire her own bomb at point-blank range. She was already calibrating her shields to resist the blast w hen she was forced to turn away, her shields knocked down to 60. "I can't get through those turrets! Someone get rid of them!"

"Piece of cake." said Falco confidently. He eased forward on his control stick, his ship swooping between turrets and gracefully circling around them. Fox looked in admiration as Falco suddenly flipped up, then pounded one of the heavier anti-air turrets on its blind side. There was a white flash and the turret was gone. Falco repeated the trick, flying circles around the more clumsy turrets and destroying them, while using his skill to dodge lasers from the quicker ones before reducing them to scrap.

"I'm going after the main gun." said Falco, now having heard a worried call from Abbey, back in the Great Fox. Before he could, though, a yellow starburst lit the air up in front of him, damaging his shields and disorienting him. By the time his vision cleared, he was on the other side of the ship, and pulling a steep u-turn. He saw a green flash from the long turret of the main gun. The Great Fox, hovering in space took the hit heavily, listing back and reeling. The otter had not been fast enough to dodge the blow, and there was concussive damage. Still, the ship held together and the shields were still fine.

"Blasted thing." she muttered, then moving to the manual controls and seizing them brought the ship about and fired the Great Fox's powerful main guns. The two large turrets fired twin plasma rays, an angry red in color. The beam struck the battleship, and burnt through after several seconds of sustained fire, draining the weakened shields and punching through the skeleton of the ship's bow, hitting the energy core in the back. The battleship disintegrated.

The next few battles improved as the team began to learn its attack patterns and Abbey learning the controls of the ship better. Finally, Beltino came back to warn them that the next level would be rather difficult, and they should "stay on their paws and watch their tails."

"What's he jabbering about?" said Falco, cracking his knuckles. "I don't see anything yet."

"You've been wrong about this way too much." muttered Krystal. She checked her Arwings. "Is everyone alright?"

"Shields are holding." said Slippy tersely. "I'm going to have to put more energy into my repair generator."

"A few armor scratches, but my shields have replenished since my last bomb run." replied Fox.

"Me, I'm unscratched." said Falco, sounding immensely pleased with himself. "After that starburst, I haven't been hit again."

"I'm fine as well." said Krystal. "Shields at 95, and I have all my bombs and other gear."

"Got something on radar." announced Slippy for the umpteenth time. "Joy." A sudden intake of breath drew the team's attention. "Everyone, break away! This thing is massive!" The toad punched his boosters and rocketed away, the rest of the team following confusedly. When the enemy appeared, the team realized the toad was right.

Slippy efficiently ran preliminary scans. "Thane-Class Battleship. 500 anti-aircraft turrets, 100 medium-bore laser cannons, 200 all-purpose guns, 75 heavy turrets, EMP canisters, smart missiles, heavy missiles, heat-seekers, spreading shot, and three seeker guns. 500-ship fighter compliment, shield and armor readings are off the chart. Can't find a weak point."

Fox sized up the situation quickly. "Team, everyone, go for the four hangar bays. Abbey, use the main guns on one, Falco and Slippy, go for the next, Krystal, with me!"

The ships began to weave through the space that had suddenly turned into a fireworks display of lasers, bombs, flak, EMP bursts, missile flames and starbursts. The team was disoriented, but Krystal, guiding Fox made her way to the first door, which was tightly shut. Both pilots fired Nova Bombs simultaneously, firing two more together right after that. Both fighters now depleted of bombs, they fired their lasers.

Because the lasers moved more quickly then the bombs, the set of bombs and lasers reached the door sat the same time. A massive tongue of flame and the white flashes of the four bombs engulfed the area. When it cleared, both doors had been melted shut and many scorched holes smoldered on the right door. The armor around the door also showed heavy damage.

"Falco, shoot the hinge there." directed the toad. In a much more efficient process, the toad and avian sealed the next door shut with supreme grace and finesse. Despite what most thought, the toad and bird worked together very well- on the good days where Falco had actually had an energy drink to start the day.

Soon, the team had fried all four doors, Abbey blowing her hangar completely to pieces with the beam shot. That done, the pilots turned to dogfighting, Fox flying with Falco while Slippy and Krystal continued to disable the ship defenses.

The team finally formed up away from the battleship. Slippy had been shot down by a missile after being devastated with an EMP canister, his Arwing remains immediately shredding the three nearest turrets and a blue wave emanating from the destroyed fighter. Slippy's voice came over the comm.

"Sorry about that, and you saw the project I've been working on. My Arwing fired an EMP pulse- not when I expected it to, but at least now I know it goes off if the ship blows."

"Thanks, Slippy." said Krystal, focusing now on the battleship. Fox asked for a status report- the team's remaining flying time was running low, and most were between 20 and 30 shields.

"Bah, let's just finish this." said Fox wearily. "I'll use Slippy's wonderful EMP Pulse-Emitter- he says the EPE will knock me out for a second or two- and once the shields are down, everyone, just blast the stupid reactor below the bridge."

Fox dodged the arcs of laser fire around him when a bomb struck his wing, blowing it off.

"Dangit!" he shouted, pounding the dashboard. His Arwing was hopelessly spiraling towards the ship when he pulled up. The G-Diffusers screamed as they strained against his momentum, finally stopping the ship. Listening to Slippy's instructions, even though he realized they were a bit unfair, he flipped a cover and pressed a button. A beautiful blue aura surrounded the ship and expanded outwards for about 500 feet in each direction, completely disabling bridge shields and defenses. That done, the rest of the team quickly darted in, firing bombs and lasers. There was a shattering detonation, and the screens for everyone in the simulations went black, save for Abbey, who was far enough to avoid the explosion, even if she only did so by hitting the throttle and jumping the ship into hyperspace- a dangeorus decision, considering that she hadn't calculated her trajectory.

* * *

"Impressive flying." said Peppy, watching the sweat-soaked and hyped-up team clamber from the simulation, faces smiling with excitement, although looking quite tired. "I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that you actually won the simulator- though you blew yourselves up with the ship. Now, _bed._ We don't have much time in the morning before we need to launch." 

The hare smiled- Fox and Krystal went to their shared room on the base, while Slippy set off towards the egress, headed to Beltino's, no doubt. The Toad household was a happy, if cluttered place. Falco was walking towards the Great Fox's hangar. Peppy shrugged and followed him, calling after Abbey.

"You can join us on the ship- we've got a room for you. Pack anything you'd like!" The hare stopped calling over his shoulder and punched in the pass code for the hangar doors once walking through the right corridors. The door opened, and he stepped in, behind Falco by a good minute. The Great Fox III's landing ramp extended as Falco reached it. Both hare and bird soon were resting comfortably within the Great Fox- Falco snoring in his room, Peppy reading a book in the team lounge. It was time to call it quits for the day.


	6. Legacy

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Ah, Lauren, I never knew you had a Fan Fiction account! That was news. Nice review, too. V-StarFox, thanks again. Your reviews are extremely encouraging, and I probably wouldn't be writing like this if I hadn't had any back-room support. Thanks a billion! 

I just watched a video titled "Krystal Released" on YouTube. The video is from one of the final scenes of Star Fox: Adventures, where the Krazoa Spirits strike Krystal and Andross is revived. I really loved the scene, and now want to get the game more then ever. More interesting to me though was how the damaged Arwing behaved. Firing lift-rockets and limping a full circle around the pedestal, it was quite a sight, particularly its dramatic point to the sky before boosting away. I'll have to note that for later.

I gave V-StarFox a special preview of an upcoming chapter. For future reference to her and others who may read it, the idea came from Star Fox: Command. I was quite intrigued by the idea of using barrel rolls to damage the enemy, and the fact that the deflection shield seen in Star Fox: Assault was a magnetic field was _extremely_ interesting. Chapter 3 had some reference to this- if you noticed, during the gauntlet simulation's battleship program, Fox ordered all of his teammates to reverse their wingtip polarity to repel incoming metallic objects. You'll find future use of this in a later chapter- along with the mysteries behind Team Elengale.

I'd also like to know something. If you can review this and/or send me a personal message on my questions, I'd greatly appreciate it. First, what do you think of this story? Where's it going, is it predictable? Are the battle scenes too long and bland? And second, would you like me to put brief character biographies as the starting chapter? That's all I've to say right now, save one thing on Chapter 3.

Sorry if you guys saw those random strings of numbers and went, "what the hell?" Those numbers originally had percent signs behind them, but didn't like those and blew those out of the sky. And with that, I'm done!

Oh wait. In Peppy's flashback...you may notice there's something about James that may catch your eye. I have my own theory on Mr. McCloud Sr.- you'll just have to figure it out!

* * *

**Chapter 4 Legacy**

* * *

Falco moved uncomfortably. He rolled over, moved a wing and paw, then scratched at his beak. Finally, exasperated, the falcon rolled out of bed. The time was ridiculous- 0300 hours. 

"You've gotta be kidding me." he groused, throwing on a light shirt and set of pants. He went over to the sink in the next room and sprayed cold water onto himself. After swearing under his breath and blinking, the avian was sufficiently wakened enough to start a new day, however poorly. He walked over to the door to the hallway, wincing as the bright lights of the hallway hit him. He walked through the portal before the doors finished sliding open, shaking his head as he went. He searched for the dimmer switches, then gave up, shutting his eyes.

_I know this ship like my wing feathers. To hell with the lights._

Shutting his eyes, Falco walked down the hall, blissfully surrounded by darkness. Even though he 'knew the ship,' he still ran into walls several times en route to the bridge. Each successive crash caused him to swear loudly, then continue on his way. By the time he reached the bridge, he'd given up on blind navigation. ROB greeted him with a pleasant tone, one of the few the robot could manage.

"Shut the hell up." groaned Falco, deciding to head towards the breakfast room. The bird then laughed as he left the room, noticing that ROB was still attempting to process his statement and come up with a reply.

"What I don't understand," said the bird a short while later, "is how you old-timers can get up so early in the morning and not be off the worse for it."

"You'd be surprised." chuckled Peppy, leaning back and stretching. The hare's glasses were on, wiped clean, and his eyes were wide open. He showed no signs of weariness. "I got 6 hours of sleep, plenty enough for a rabbit like me, even an old one. Back before the Convention, your folk used to hunt others for all hours and crash for the rest of the day."

"Yeah yeah, we were savages, big deal." replied Falco. "I'm not sure if the Convention actually helped in the long run."

"Science and Technology has its flip sides." observed Abbey, who was also in the room. She looked tired, but her mood was good. "The Convention brought about Corneria and Venom, before the Three Sicknesses on Venom. Of course, as your friend Fox can also say-"

"It brought about freaks like Andross. I didn't sleep in grade school, and I only was in a gang for two years." snapped Falco irately. "And I know Fox well anyway. We were best friends back at the Academy, before even Slippy. We met him in our last year. Damn toad fried my best blaster trying to fix it, then my trainer craft a week later. I've never forgiven him for that."

"He was only trying to help." said Peppy calmly. "Besides, he was the one who kept your Arwing together during the Lylat War, and he also upgraded your gear since then. Who else could have made your armor fire, blaster, ballistic, electrical, _and _radiation-proof? Free of charge, as well."

"Yeah, yeah." said Falco. "He's good at that, I'll admit."

"You two are impossible." muttered Peppy. "He won't be happy when he reviews the ship's security logs later."

"When he WHAT?" yelled Falco. Peppy winced and covered his large ears.

"He keeps tabs on the ship, such as conversations, transfers, door openings, stuff like that." said Peppy once Falco calmed down. "Don't worry, he's got a terrible short-term memory, and he won't remember your conversation by the time breakfast comes around. Speaking of which," added the hare, "I've made some. Krystal may have been telling you she makes your meals, but I know for a fact that she managed to set the galley on fire last year. After that, she let me take over the cooking. Picked up it some time before I settled down and had kids." The hare chuckled, then his face became solemn. "That was right before James was lost over Venom. I'll never forget that day..."

* * *

_Thirteen years prior..._

* * *

"_James?" called Peppy over the comm. "This is a secure channel, right?"_

"_Yeah, Peppy. Go ahead, shoot. What's on your mind?" The speaker, a well-built, muscular fox of maybe 28 years turned his head, looking out his cockpit window at the Arwing to his right. These were Mark I. Arwings, sleeker then the Mark II. craft the team currently flew. Their G-Diffuser Wings did not stretch down below the craft, and resembled pontoons or skids. They did not glow green._

"_Pigma. Do you remember that Beltino wanted to see you earlier, before we left?" The hare heard a chuckle on the other end._

"_Sure I know. I wasn't planning on ignoring a year-mate, but we were scrambled right after that. But what about Pigma? He was our year-mate too, and he's a capable pilot. Come on, Peppy, you know he's one of my good friends."_

"_James, I am dead serious. Listen to me. Have I ever steered you wrong?" The other fox thought about this. Peppy saw him adjust his sunglasses over the comm. window. The fox suddenly grinned._

"_There was that one time on Titania-"_

"_Oh shut up!" yelled the hare. Both friends burst out laughing, until James controlled himself. _

"_Yeah, I trust you though. It's why you fly on my right wing."_

"_Then hear me out. You recall Beltino's son, Slippy? He's a friend of your son. Anyway, he's showing a knack for communication engineering, and he intercepted a transmission the other day."_

"_Why's he doing that?"_

"_His rig detected that there was a masked signal being sent from the Great Fox last night. He tuned in time to hear what he thought was Andross."_

"_Thought? How could he just 'think' he heard Andross?"_

"_He only heard his voice over news reports, James. Not like us. Even if all we've heard were surrender demands. Anyway, Andross said something along the lines of 'you'll be paid well, I assure you- and don't forget about my...ah, secret.' Then Pigma came on and said something about this secret, and how he knew, and then he promised he'd do a good job. I don't know if it's a prank or something, but please, watch your 9."_

"_Of course, Peppy." said James off-handedly. "Now, cut the chatter. Venom's coming up, and I don't fancy our chances of making it back to the Valinspur if we're detected over the comm."_

"_Oh stop it." muttered Peppy. But he stopped talking as he saw Venom, looming large in the foreground._

"_This place gives me the creepies." said Pigma. James told him to shut up, and silence was maintained for the next few minutes. Then Pigma, the most skilled technician on the time called._

"_I've got bogies on my 12. Whole lot of 'em."_

"_Peppy, stick to Pigma's 3 and cover him. I'm going to try and flank them, then hit them with a Smart Bomb." The Smart Bomb, the predecessor of the Nova Bomb had less power, but worked in a similar way, albeit with less force._

"_Understood, James." said Peppy, moving to Peppy's right. The two moved into the atmosphere, their shields turning red as they fought against the heat of reentry. Pigma's ship suddenly opened fire, and an explosion sounded far below. The battle had officially started._

"_James, where are you!" yelled Pigma. "We're getting hammered over here!"_

"_What he said!" added Peppy. "Shields at 70!"_

"_Alright, alright, I'm coming! Being a bit held up over here!" James's voice was tight with concentration and focus. Pigma risked a glance over to his right and saw the other Arwing looping upwards in a roll it had never been designed to handle. Then two green lasers- twin lasers- erupted from the ship, blowing a skilled Venomian pilot to the ground._

"_Alright, Pigma, don't get fried, I'm on my way!" yelled the leader, main engine flaring behind him. A red shell flashing blue came from the Arwing's nose, then detonated within a cluster of the enemy, blowing them to shrapnel._

_Pigma shook his head. "Always the marksman, aren't you?" James looped in reply. _

"_I'd be ashamed if I couldn't outshoot my own team." he replied dryly. The three friends roared at this._

"_Well, atmospheric defenses are gone." said Peppy. "These Arwings are quite something, but I'm getting to old for this."_

"_What're you talking about, junior?" asked James, prompting another peal of laughter. "Either way, you're right. Keep your scanners on and advance slowly. Remember, at this height losing your shields will compromise your armor as we head down."_

_For several minutes, the team continued in silence. Pigma, once again was the one who sounded the alarm._

"_James, on your 2, watch it."_

"_I don't see anything."_

"_Change your sensor frequency to .6538."_

"_Roger that. Holy..."_

"_Evasive maneuvers!" yelled Peppy, jinking to the right and avoiding being hit by a blue ray. "They're out for blood!"_

"_Aren't they always?" grumbled James, easily rolling to avoid several shots. Despite this, the Mark I's rolling ability did not deflect every shot, and James winced as several splattered across his shields. The dancing flash of red dazzled him before he blinked and shot down the offending craft._

"_I see the base! Peppy, Pigma, behind me, we're going to make a quick strafing run." _

"_Roger that, James."_

"_Read ya."_

"_Roll! Do a barrel roll!" yelled Peppy. Anti-aircraft fire zipped up from below, but the three pilots of the Star Fox Squadron had earned their reputation, and they proved it, jinking to the right and left and rolling. Not one shot hit the pilots as they zoomed in towards the base, raking its shields with bombs and lasers._

"_McCloud." came a voice. Peppy saw James stiffen suddenly, or rather, saw his ship suddenly move erratically. "We've been waiting for you."_

"_Andross." James's reply was a deathly hiss. "I'm going to get you, so you just wait down there for us."_

"_I'm behind you, James." taunted Andross. James started as a peal of laser fire struck his craft. He looped up tightly, trying to come behind whatever was shooting at him. The thing was still behind him._

"_Out of practice?" teased Andross. "My, it's been awhile since the Academy, eh?"_

"_Oh, do us a favor and shut your trap." retorted James, braking suddenly. He saw a heavily armored craft zip by him, and wasted no time in striking it with smart bombs and lasers._

"_Damnit!" shouted Andross. "Pigma, do it now!"_

"_What?" _

"_NOW!"_

"_Alright, lord." said Pigma stuffily. James realized Peppy's warnings were true as green lasers spattered across his craft. But something wasn't right..._

"_Pigma, you fiend! Stand right there, I'm going to kill you personally!" Peppy's enraged voice came over the comm. as his Arwing started firing at Pigma. In the heat of his anger, however, most of his shots missed to pig._

"_Wait a moment..." said James. "Peppy?" he asked over a secure channel. "Pigma's not doing any damage."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Look at this, he's not reducing my shield."_

"_By the Creator! I know what he's up to!"_

"_Spit it out!" said James, now locking onto Andross's ship._

"_Pigma's reduced his laser power- he's trying to make it look like he's hurting you, but-"_

"_He really isn't." finished James. "I knew he'd come through."_

"_What's wrong!" screamed Andross. "Pigma, you swine! Why isn't he dead yet?"_

"_He's damaged my lasers!" whined the pig. "I can't get enough power out of them!"_

"_Switch to your other weapons!"_

"_No bombs!"_

"_You useless piece of fat."_

"_Hey!"_

"_Fighters, coming in on my 6!" called Peppy. "Watch it James!"_

"_I hear you, hold on another moment..." James trailed off. Peppy looked behind and saw the concentrated squadron behind him. He knew what he had to do._

"_I'm sorry, James."_

"_Peppy, no!" James had fired his shots, crippling Andross's ship when he saw Peppy's craft spiral up and away._

"_This is my duty. Finish him now."_

"_You're helping no one by dying-"_

"_I'm helping my cause." retorted Peppy, killing his communication line. Green lasers streaked from his craft, blasting down ship after ship. His alarms blared as his shields collapsed and his armor started taking hits._

"_Peppy, get out of here, now!"_

"_Not without you, James!"_

"_That's an order, you hear me! I won't make it out! I've lost main engines!"_

"_James-"_

"_Damnit Peppy, move! I think I can still engage my boosters! I'll be behind you after this!"_

"_I'm holding you to your word." said Peppy grimly. "I won't forgive you for this."_

"_I'm not asking you to." came the calm reply. Peppy looked behind. He was a strategist. He knew the situation. Still, he never felt such a painful moment as when he pushed the limited warp drive._

_James watched him leave. "The Creator bless you." He turned to Andross, his lasers burning into the craft ahead of him. It smoked and sparked, then began its plunge to the ground. James ignored the furious screams over his comm. set and reviewed the damage assessments. He had lost his main engines, and now his backup set was coming online. His communications rig suddenly exploded in a flash of sparks. The fox swore quietly. He dropped a bomb onto the main base reactor It exploded violently, the explosion carrying the battered Arwing upon its wings._

"_Please be safe, Peppy." said James to himself, then he jinked to the right, the Arwing still making its moves with grace. He was still calling the shots. He grimaced as several sailed across his nose. Maybe he wasn't. _

"_Gotta get out of here." muttered the vulpine, engaging his boosters and flying as fast as he dared. It looked like had a whole squadron behind him. No place to run over the country._

"_Ocean...?" What were those waves?_

"_Now or never!" resolved the fox, and he angled his ship down towards the waves he saw below him. To a limited extent, the Mark I. Arwings could go below water, and that's exactly what he did, sinking 50 feet below the surface. His engines reengaged and he continued onwards, suddenly alone. _

"_Oh crap." he said to himself, seeing his shield gauge falling. "I've got to leave. Thanks, ocean."_

_The Arwing tilted upwards and broke the surface with a tremendous spray of water. The Arwing found a tiny shelter behind a large outcrop of rock, and landed. James McCloud wearily hopped out and surveyed the damage._

* * *

"To this day, I don't know what happened to James." finished Peppy quietly. "He may have died, he may have lived. I've never forgiven him for ordering me to leave like that, but I do hope...to see him again." 

The hare sighed heavily. "But enough of that. Falco, if you can help Abbey here pack her gear before we leave, I'd appreciate it."

"C'mon, Abbey." said Falco, leading the otter from the room. When the door sealed behind them, he sighed. "Let's leaving him be for a moment." With a rare amount of compassion, the avian recounted how Peppy got sometimes when James came up.

"What about Fox?" she asked. "I mean, it's not a nice question to ask him, but-"

"Fox didn't take it well. Why else would he have gone screaming after Andross? He still believes his pop's alive and kicking. I do too. His old man was the only pilot in the Lylat System who ever shot me down in under a minute. But that was back in the Academy..."

The two walked on in silence. "C'mon, we'll use my hovercar." said Falco finally. "This way."


	7. Birds of a Feather

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note:_ I spy a pattern here...V-StarFox, I thank you once again. You keep up with my story with exceptional regularity, and you are certainly the only one to do so who leaves constant remarks and comments. These really help with my writing style. 

As for the preview...well, you're welcome to have it. Keep it mind, it may change- I've added lines here and there and removed one of the "damns" from Fox's initial line.

notfromEarth7, I kinda wonder how you could think my story's ending here. I'm not trying to offend you here, but war isn't all guns and blazing action. It really isn't, and how can it be? Keep in mind that Grall is Krazoa-knows far away. They're going to be scrambled soon, so don't worry about it. And cliffhangers are literary elements, and they do and will continue to crop up in here. As for Fox and Krystal, well, I'll get to it. Or try.

To Mr. Porqukat, well, yeah, this whole thing so far is essentially a prologue. Impatient for them to start blasting things? You're just like Falco. So predictable. No offense. Heheh...

Yeah, I'm just as fed up with pre-war scenes as y'all probably are, but they're just a few more left, I swear! In this chapter, you'll meet up with some gang which claims rights to Abbey, and exactly what Falco's response is. This is just a short chapter, because I don't want to quite get into everything on a chapter starting with a hovercar chase.

* * *

**Chapter 5 Birds of a Feather...

* * *

**The key turned in the ignition, and once again the hovercar whined to life. Then the engine coughed and spluttered, dying pitifully. Falco swore and opened the door, while Abbey just giggled. 

"When's the last time you serviced this thing?" she asked with a grin, reach behind her to find the standard repair kit in these vehicles.

"About four years ago. Yeah, I know, it's out of date, but most places won't service this thing- it's a CityScape 9113 Vintage Model. But Slippy's managed to keep this thing on the streets. For all his mechanical expertise, he had a simple way of getting this thing to run...I think it went something like this."

The falcon suddenly reared back and slammed his footpaw into the car as hard as he could, leaving another small dent near a growing collection upon the door. Instantly, the engines and hover pads roared to life. Abbey looked stunned, but Falco just grinned.

"Don't say anything." he warned, then leapt into the vehicle and gunned the throttle. The craft shot off far more quickly then it should have, Falco weaving through the few early birds that were also plying the streets, both the ground and sky lanes.

Abbey looked over to see Falco give a whoop of exhilaration. The avian was in his element here, looping the hovercar around buildings with supreme skill. On the entire trip to her home, Abbey never saw Falco lose control or his temper. The raptor excitedly dodged trees and streetcars, and after she got over her initial vertigo, doubtless thanks to the bird's piloting, she began to enjoy the giddy feelings of this quick flight.

"Over there." she directed, pointing with a paw. Falco nodded, then turned a corner far more quickly then he should have, quickly darting down to avoid ramming a patrol vehicle.

"What'd you do?" Abbey asked nervously, looking behind her. Falco just laughed.

"The police gave up on giving me tickets long ago- and if they did, the public would hate them. So I can get off doing stuff like this, unless I wreck something."

"Thank goodness for that." muttered the otter, but Falco took no notice and increased the speed. The old car didn't even rattle as it sped up.

"Hold on a moment." said Falco suddenly, pulling the craft to a screeching halt. They were at the edge of Corneria Proper. Before them were rundown neighborhoods, shantytowns- no man's land. Where the rule of the police and the name of Star Fox was about as good as a dead blaster.

"You live here?" he asked. Abbey looked ashamed.

"After I was discharged from the army, I ran out of money pretty fast. Other than you guys, even for someone with high marks and an Advanced Academy Accomplishments Badge, there isn't much work for pilots, particularly combat pilots like me. And the guys in my dorm...were rough." The otter winced. "I tried for a dishonorable discharge. My officer understood and gave me an honorable one instead. Not like it made much difference." She laughed hollowly. "C'mon, I don't have much. I won't be long."

"I'm only going in there if you pick up the rifle I've got in the bottom of the car." answered Falco, already easing the throttle forward. The otter shrugged and picked it up.

"I'm better with a blaster, you know."

"Tough luck."

As they sped through the streets, many people looked at them go. They had good reason- Falco's shiny hovercar was easily the brightest thing many of them had seen for quite awhile. The falcon paid no mind and headed on, then stopped when Abbey directed him to.

"Make this snappy. I don't like this place."

"Who does?" came her answer. The otter darted into the ramshackle house. Her room now. She grabbed some of her prized possessions, her Academy Badge, an out-of-date blaster, and a few other things she wanted to read. She turned, and was about to head out the door when she was slammed into the doorframe.

"About time you came back." said the hulk before it was smashed aside by a feathery fist. Falco picked up the otter, who looked to be steps away from fainting with shock and placed her into his hovercar. He was about to gun the engine again when a leering gang surrounded them, blocking the hovercar's passage. One of them, a one-eyed pug with a mean face advanced.

"The girl's ours. And if ya give us your ride, we'll let you go." Abbey looked up weakly, fright stamped on her face. "She's ours, y'know. From after her discharge." Falco then noticed that the pug's voice was slurred. A drinker.

_Just what I need._ he thought, aggravated, then he flipped a blaster around his wing. "And if I don't?"

"Then we kill you and take the girl anyway." Then there was a whisper of air- and the pug fell dead, pierced through by a green beam of light. Falco turned, and saw Abbey, holding the rifle.

"That's the spirit." he said, backing towards the car before diving in. Around him, the gang seemed to be closing. One hefted an stun gun and another, a blaster.

"Who're you to shoot at us? Ye knocked down Frankie!"

"Oh, I did more than that." retorted Falco. "And I'm Lombardi from the Star Fox team. I remember you, Jeremy. You should've listened when I told ya Fox had openings at the Academy. But you didn't. Now get out of my way, or I'm going to shoot you."

"C'mon, guys." replied the gang member, drunkenly staggering forwards. Falco closed his eyes.

"Sorry, m'friend." he said, then started the engine. It whined, then died. "Damnit!" roared the falcon, ducking as laser shots pummeled his car. Abbey looked shocked when some of them bounced off.

"Don't ask!" he yelled, then fired off three quick shots from behind the door, felling two gang members. Kicking the ignition furiously, Falco swore until the car spluttered to life, running down two unlucky souls in front of it and speeding away. Abbey ducked as a shot shattered the windshield in front of her.

"Get down!" ordered the avian, nimbly dodging around a building. "I hate those freakin' idiots."

"Falco!" screamed Abbey, seconds away from hitting the floor. "Your right!"

The falcon turned just in time to see an EMP charge strike his craft, causing it to hit the ground and skid a good hundred meters in a shower of sparks and flame. The falcon leapt out, surveying the damage grimly, then grabbed the rifle from Abbey, holstered his blaster pistol, and stood before the car. At the far end of the street, he could see the gang chasing after him.

"Not over my dead body." said the falcon grimly, sighting with his keen eyes, then shooting. Down went a canine. Another avian. A panther. Then his eyes flew wide as he was struck in the belly by a laser bolt. Abbey screamed, but after doubling over from the concussive shock, Falco straightened. The body armor he was wearing was unscratched. He'd picked it up before leaving the ship.

"Damn, you're good." he muttered, thinking of Slippy. He spied a few old trash cans nearby, then kicked one down and rolled it at the approaching gang members. He shot it. The can blew up into shrapnel, felling the rest of the rushers.

He turned around, pleased, then his beak dropped. Abbey was gone.

* * *

"Quiet, girl." snapped the husky otter who'd taken her. His paw was tightly wrapped around her mouth. Her eyes were wide with fright, her paws pinned to her sides. Three other surviving brutes ringed her, looking ravenous. Abbey shook with fear. 

Something clicked.

_Could it- could it be?_ she thought slowly, her scrambled mind managing to piece things together. She wriggled furiously, but the male otter holding her only grasped her that much tighter.

"C'mon...pretty thing..." he said wickedly, then his paw reached out to her tunic. Something hissed, then an explosion rocked the room. When the smoke cleared, a dazed Abbey was in an empty room. She looked down at her hip. Her old blaster had been cocked when she'd left it at home, and it had just backfired. The armored holster it was in channeled the force away from her, and amazingly, it had struck the others around her, knocking them unconscious or killing them outright. It looked like two of them were dead.

"Oh..." she whispered. Her head still spun from the way she'd been grabbed, and she tried to stand up. Her legs were weak beneath her.

Before passing out, she was vaguely aware of Falco standing in the door, rushing towards her.

* * *

"Falco! Falco, damnit, come in!" The commlink in the hovercar was blaring when Falco dumped the unconscious Abbey into her seat. He hit the answer button. 

"What?" he demanded.

"We were scrambled ten minutes ago! Where the hell are you?" The vulpine on the screen looked furious. "Out skylarking with the new teammate?"

"Ask Peppy!" roared the avian. "Fox, I don't-"

"We're already in the air, damnit!" shouted Fox. You're missing out on this, and we need you up here! Figure something out! You left your Arwing in Corneria's service hangar, didn't you?"

"Wait a moment...I did..." said Falco, then he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Foxie." He killed the transmission, then put his head in his wings. "Damn this."

* * *

A few minutes later found the hovercar back in Corneria Proper, heading towards the service department. Without a word, Falco passed disgruntled and angry-looking servicemen, still laboriously carrying Abbey in his arms. He opened his Arwing cockpit after shooing away an irate officer, then dumped Abbey into the tiny passenger seat designed only for emergency use. 

_Not like she's smaller then Tricky._ thought the falcon with a grin, then he hopped in himself and closed the hatch. Abbey started coming to around then, groaning and looking around in a panic. When she saw Falco in front of her, she relaxed, despite the fact that she was curled up in the tiny space.

Falco powered up his ignition systems and eased himself forward, just in time to see his hovercar being confiscated.

"Bloody hell." he muttered. He'd solve that later. The Arwing sailed out of the hangar, alarms blaring after him to get clearance. The G-Diffusers were having trouble coping with Abbey's extra weight, but the falcon solved this by turning two difficult circles in the air, then hauling himself out of the atmosphere before engaging his limited warp drive.

On the ground, a technician shook his head. "That thing nearly came apart right there." he said solemnly.

* * *

"Unidentified warp signature detected off the port bow." 

"Put it onscreen, and hail, ROB."

"Affirmative. Contact will be possible in approximately 10 seconds."

Slippy waited at the communications console while a timer ticked down the seconds. When it beeped, Slippy pressed a key sequence.

"Unidentified vessel, this is Slippy Toad. We have you on our scanners. Please identify yourself and-"

"Shut up, Slippy. Count yourself lucky I bothered to let you get that far. Hurry up and open the freakin' launch bay, I've got Abbey in here too and the Arwing's not happy with it." Slippy groused, muttered a comeback into the mike, and looked at Fox.

"Open the doors. Falco's just being who he usually is."

"Though he's not supposed to be late." grumbled Peppy, swinging his chair over and opening the launch bay doors. "He'd better have a good excuse, or else, I'm going to get him."

"You'll never get there first, old timer."


	8. Wolf and Fox

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Sorry, sorry, another short chapter, I SWEAR, this is the last one before the combat scenes. Again, I don't want to chuck all that together. Hopefully, it won't be stressful on your eyes, and since I'm updating so fast anyway, what does this matter:P 

Thanks again, V-StarFox for brightening my day! And Rebecca, you're easy to spot. Anywhere. :D

* * *

**Chapter 6 Wolf and Fox**

* * *

When Falco clambered out of the Arwing, the first sight he saw was Krystal, who gave him a tiny, mischievous grin. The second one was Fox. The vulpine looked murderous. 

"The media was ALL over this." he growled. "You wouldn't believe how quickly they found out. As we were scrambling, we got 50, 50 calls on where two of our teammates went. That it was Abbey and you made it that much worse."

"Go badger Peppy." said Falco grumpily, turning to help Abbey get down. "Speaking of which, where is the old codger?"

"Up on the bridge. And don't think I'm going to forget this, Falco." replied Fox, turning around and stalking down the hallway. Krystal sighed and followed after him. Falco turned to Abbey.

"You know, sometimes I think that Fox would shoot me, given the chance." he said.

"He wouldn't. He's too nice of a guy to do that." protested Abbey.

"Nice guy, sure." said Falco. "Well, Krystal'll talk some sense into him. You go up and meet ROB, he'll help you some more with the ship. I'm going up to talk to Peppy."

"Right. You do that." replied the otter automatically. "Where's the lift?" Falco was about to speak up when an alarm went off. Slippy's voice came over the intercom.

"We have four unidentified and one identified warp trace off our port bow. I'm hailing the unknown vessels now- they do appear to be flying in formation however."

"Unidentified vessels, please identify yourself." One large cruiser broke off from the formation- Falco could see that out of the force field. "That's the Streak Bird cruiser." said Abbey. "It's not a Dreadnaught-Class ship, but it's similar."

"And that's...oh no." said Falco. He activated the commlink on his wrist. "Slippy, one of those fighters is Katt Monroe. Let her land."

"Alright, Falco. But the others are...Wolfens."

Fox suddenly came running down to the flight deck, Krystal besides him. "Krystal says it's Star Wolf!" he cried, gasping. "Falco, with me!"

"There's no need for that." came the voice over the intercom. Fox yelped.

"How're you getting this frequency?" he yelled.

"Not too hard. Leon rigged it up for us. Now, we're not here to fly against you. Lylat's our home too, and we only just got off the bounty lists. Can we please land? We've got information."

Fox looked reluctantly at Krystal. "I don't sense anything deceiving about him." said the blue vixen. "And I'm not wrong about this either. They've changed."

"Question is, did all of them?" muttered Fox. He grasped Krystal's paw, then raised his voice. "Alright, Star Wolf, you have permission to land, but be warned- I have a deck gun in the hangar, and it will be used on you if you try anything."

"Alright, alright!" came Wolf's voice.

"Geez, I thought I could walk around without being shot anymore." came Leon's pained voice. "There isn't much room for a bad pilot anymore, not even in the smuggling lanes."

"And it is not in the least bit daring or romantic." came a third voice, sounding bored. Krystal leaned against Fox and grimaced. Her least favorite person in the system- Panther Caruso.

Fox returned the gesture with a tiny grin before he gently reached a paw to his waist holster. You never knew with Star Wolf.

* * *

The airlock-type force field on the outside flickered, then disappeared. Familiar with this technique, the three Wolfens crowded together in the confined airlock space. Fox relaxed. At this point, with the team essentially at their mercy, Fox knew that Star Wolf was genuinely on their side this time. The second force field lowered as the outer one reappeared. The three ships passed through, then settled with a whine on the deck. The cockpits opened, and out stepped three various characters. 

The first was a grey-haired lupine. Whether it was from age or from stress, or even just natural genetics, no one quite knew, but Fox liked to think that Wolf was still young. It made him feel a little better. One of the wolf's eyes was gone, a bluish patch covering it. A red light blinked eerily on it.

The second one to climb out was a green chameleon. Leon Powalski, infamous for his expertise in torture and flying. He was wearing a black suit of armor, which had been lovingly kept, despite the few evident scorch marks on it. A blaster was at his hip.

The third was a panther with fur of a deep purple color, nearly black. A rose adorned his right paw, while yellow eyes glittered. The rose was flung at Krystal's feet. The vixen picked it up and handed it to Fox, who wordlessly slipped it into a pocket with a small grin.

"If you've information and other things," began Fox, "tell us in the bridge. Slippy's keeping an eye on you, and we've got an automated security system in here. Watch your step."

"No long time no see, eh, Fox?' said Wolf, spreading his arms wide. "C'mon, admit it. You wouldn't have made it through that shaft if it wasn't for us."

"Alright, alright. Yes, you helped us then. Does it mean that I trust you fully? No. If I recall correctly, at last count we stood at 3 Wolfens downed and 1 Arwing."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." said Wolf dismissively. "We would've kicked your tails back at Sargasso if it wasn't for your blue-feathered friend."

"Falco did just fine. And if I remember, I shot you down personally."

"You only got my engines."

"Screw you."

* * *

The party soon made its way to the bridge, although they were bickering about it. Arms crossed across their chests, Slippy, Falco, and Peppy ringed the bridge as well. Abbey stood nervously behind them. Panther reached for a rose, but Wolf's growl dissuaded him. 

Finally, the last person to arrive made it. Katt Monroe, Falco's former girlfriend. The cat's fur was still bright pink, and her ship hadn't changed at all. She nodded, then took a seat. She was familiar with this ship. Falco had brought her here once or twice. Sector Z was one of those places.

"Well, take a seat." said Fox finally, ending the unconscious staring fight that was raging between the room's occupants. "We are at war, and we can't waste time dillydallying. Abbey, take the helm, and just shoot anything that looks wrong before it shoots us."

"Who is this lovely belle?" inquired Panther. Wolf looked embarrassed, Leon, exasperated.

"Oh, don't start that again." snapped Falco. Katt looked mildly confused- Panther turned to her and started a small conversation. Tiring of this, Wolf ignored the feline and started talking.

"Okay, Fox, down to business. Pepper got ahold of us and hired us for a stint here. We're to fly with you- but we'll stay on longer then the contract lasts. Why? Well, all of us were born on Corneria, excepting Panther," he jerked his head, "who came about on Macbeth. Anyway, it's our home, and we're going to help defend it. Now, Pepper's long range communications went out, so he sent us, along with the Streak Birds there, to let you know something. You're going to jump when you here this- Pepper's staff messed up. You're not meeting the enemy tomorrow. They'll be here in about an hour."

"But that's impossible!" cried Slippy suddenly. "I checked the stats for those battleships! They can't make it here in an hour!"

Krystal looked miserable. She'd already learned the answer. "Slippy, they messed that up too."

"Awww nuts."

"And they could be here earlier." said Wolf meaningfully. "Katt came along for the ride, and our cruiser's coming up soon. Be warned, it's no use in combat. Some cheap thing that looks like the Great Fox with its wings lopped off, but anyway, we're here to help."

Fox nodded, then shut his eyes. Peppy spoke up.

"Well then. There are guest quarters on the ship, on level 2. Take them, use them, just don't make a mess, and _don't touch anything_ unless you want me to shoot you with a blaster."

"I'd like to see you try." retorted Leon. Slippy started up about the new blasters he was working on, and the two were soon embroiled in a furious technical argument. Krystal's head started spinning with all the jargon. She tugged on Fox's sleeve.

"We're not going to get anything done here." she told him. The vulpine nodded. "Wolf, Peppy, Krystal, come with me. Let's find somewhere more quiet, then we can talk."

The four left the room, leaving a smitten Katt with Panther, and two angry technicians battling out their thoughts, although Slippy was quickly gaining the upper hand.

* * *

Fox looked at Wolf's face, trying to scrutinize it, trying to decipher his emotions. Peppy chuckled dryly. 

"Fox, give it up. He's older then you are. You younger folk will never understand the likes of us."

Wolf looked at the hare with a small grin. "You know, for once, I agree with you." Fox snorted, Krystal giggled. "Though I'd say you're a lot greyer then I am, old man. What'd you do to the old Great Fox?"

"Wrecked it." replied the hare nonchalantly. "Don't you recall seeing the wreckage? It was the only thing stopping the shield from collapsing.

"Oh yes." said Wolf thoughtfully. "I was thinking about salvaging it, but..."

"You two get along very well." observed Krystal. Peppy grinned wryly, Fox did too.

"I suppose our teams aren't that much different, when you consider that we're not on opposite ends of a gun."

"You know, Star Wolf was around before me."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not." said Wolf. "Like your dad, mine founded the organization. It had four pilots at the time, and it flew against Venom, with your pop. But then he was shot down on McCloud's wing. I don't know if he's still alive- I don't know. It could have been on an earlier expedition to Venom, but I don't remember anymore. Anyway, back to the matters at hand..."

About half an hour later, Abbey was casually leaning her foot paws against a console. Her rudder twitched a bit, then she was startled out of her reverie by an insistent beep. She looked over at it with a groan. The proximity alarm. She wanted to smash it.

"Warp traces detected ahead." came ROB's monotonous tone.

_That can only mean one thing._ thought Abbey. She reached for the intercom button. She pressed it once, and not hearing any confirmation, pressed it again, then again.

"Uh, guys, is this...yeah, okay, sorry about that." came her voice over the loudspeakers. "I've got something on scopes up ahead, I think you guys should launch now." She shut the system off, then looked thoughtfully at a text lying near her. Peppy had been reading it. It was Star Fox's official battle plans. She heard the pattering of rapid footpaws, then turned to find Peppy slowly walking up the steps. She rushed to help him, and the hare gratefully sank into a plush armchair.

"I need this for any shocks we take. Otherwise, I'd break every bone in my body." said the hare wearily. "I'm getting too old for this."

"Too young or too old?" muttered the otter rebelliously. Peppy grinned, then launched into an explanation of the Great Fox's battle systems, pausing when the launch was requested from the team.

"Clearing both force fields." he said, pressing in the security code.

"Launching all ships." said Abbey next. The Wolfens and the Cat's Paw had been rigged to the spare launching catapults, and all of them tumbled forward at once, some delaying by a bit, but still racing close to their fellows. Eight ships jetted from the Great Fox's hangar- more then had ever been done before. A communications channel opened to the Streak Birds. A familiar face appeared.

"Hey, Fox, how's it going?" asked Bill Grey.

"Bill? You again? Where'd you go?" asked Fox gruffly, though he was in reality overjoyed. Krystal sensed this and also grinned.

"Ah, Fox, we joined Husky and Bulldog units and made the Streak Birds. Not many of us left after Katina, but we're all still full of pep." said the dog confidently. "You holding up?"

"Just fine, Bill, just fine. And if I may make an introduction? Bill, Krystal, Krystal, Bill."

"Nice to meet you!" said Bill enthusiastically. Krystal scanned his thoughts quickly, gathering that Bill was one of Fox's best friends, a capable pilot, and a charmer.

"Nice to meet you too, Bill." said Krystal warmly.

"Cut the chatter, pups, and turn your focus to your radar." snapped Wolf. "Jeez, McCloud, your band never learns."

There were mixed protests at this, then silence from both Star Fox and Star Wolf as a Mark I Arwing launched from the Streak Bird's hangar, just as a flash announced the arrival of Star Wolf's cruiser.


	9. The Truth of War

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Sorry that this was a bit later then my normal updates. I just haven't been able to keep up my pace, what with the heyday of school life. Homework, friends, all that good stuff that we all have. Thank you all again for your reviews! They're coming in at a good rate! 

V-StarFox, thank you again for keeping up with my story. You've been here since then beginning, and I really appreciate it!

notfromEarth7, I definitely must thank you for pointing out my mistake there. Ah, well, I can say in my defense I was in a hasty mood. Not at all like the Ents...

Now, simulator fights haven't been enough for some of you- well, now we'll start moving on to the real thing! For those of you who've forgotten what happens at the end of Chapter 6, the team spotted a Mark I Arwing fly out of the Streak Bird's mothership. To avoid confusion, let me quickly designate what my Arwing 'Marks' are. The Mark I Arwing was the version seen in Star Fox 64 (I've excluded Star Fox from this), with one primitive G-Diffuser system and an inability to deflect every shot a foe fires with a barrel roll. James flew this type of ship. The Mark II disappeared somewhere, don't worry about it. The Mark III is the redesigned Arwing that shows up in Star Fox: Assault, with four G-Diffuser wings and the ability to generate a deflection shield, at the cost of a bit lower handling. And now, onto the story!

* * *

**Chapter 7 The Truth of War

* * *

**Silence prevailed for a few moments. Both teams recognized the ship model, of course. Star Wolf, because it had shot them down many times before, and Star Fox, for they had flown these craft repeatedly. Fox, especially had never forgotten seeing James take off on his final flight in one of these ships.

* * *

_Thirteen years prior...

* * *

_

"_Don't worry, son. I'll be back. This is just a little jaunt, that's all." said James reassuringly. Fox, 16, looked at his father pleadingly._

"_But dad, can't you just hear Slippy out? It's really dangerous there!"_

_James smiled, then stepped forward, ruffling Fox's headfur. "Don't worry. I'll come back. Like my father, and my father's father, we McCloud's are too tough to get shot down. Besides, it's only some biological activity. Nothing threatening."_

_With that, James stood up, waved at Fox, then yelled, "I'm coming!" The younger Peppy Hare had already entered his Arwing. Pigma had sealed off his canopy and was running preflight checks. Gracefully, the team leader vaulted into his Arwing, closing the cockpit smoothly behind him._

"_Slick move, James." shouted Peppy, before he too closed his cockpit. _

"_All systems go." said Pigma. "Too bad we couldn't take the Great Fox out with us." James chuckled, along with Peppy._

"_Pigma," said Peppy, "won't you ever learn? New hardware like that never works when it's supposed to."_

"_It's never gonna NOT be new at this rate!" argued the pig. "But I give up. Let's launch these birds and take the warp to Katina, then head to Sector X and get to Macbeth._

"_Sound like a plan." said James. "Let's go, guys." He flipped a switch, and the Arwing's engines rumbled to life, retro-rockets flaring as they lifted the ship off the ground. With a final, parting wave, James McCloud fired his boosters and shot away, Peppy and Pigma following him. Fox watched the three silver darts soaring skyward, then blinked as they each emitted a huge flash and leapt into hyperspace. The sun was still shining, and his commlink was beeping. Time to talk to Slippy._

* * *

"Oh, sorry about that, guys." said Bill apologetically. "I forgot to mention. Fox, one of our academy buddies is here to help us. She'll have to stay on your ship, if you don't mind." 

"Thanks for warning us." grumbled Fox. "Ship's almost chock full now. Who is it?"

"Fara, if you remember her. 2nd in command of our unit, but she'd do better flying with you guys. Hey Fara!" he called, turning his ship. "Fox and his crew are here again!"

"Nice to see you!" came a fennec's voice. Fara pulled her old Arwing up into formation behind the other four Arwings present, taking a position between Slippy and Krystal. "Hey Fox, it's been awhile!"

"Hey, Fara." chuckled Fox. "I lost track of you after Katina. Shot down, right?" Even from this distance, Fox could see Fara's large fennec ears flatten against her head.

"Yeah, but that wasn't my fault." she said. "My systems failed mid-flight. Can I fly with you guys again? It wasn't fun, leaving."

"Um, Fox? Who is this?" came another voice. Fox suddenly looked sheepish. That was Krystal.

"Sorry, Krystal! This is an old friend, Fara Phoenix. Fara, Krystal. We met on the Sauria mission."

"Hello, Krystal!" said Fara brightly. Krystal responded, although in a bit more of a subdued fashion. Bill grinned at that.

"Don't worry, Krystal, there's no competition here." he said, causing a roar of laughter from the others. "Fara's on my wing now. Sorry Fox." he said with a wink. Fox looked nonplussed.

"I thought she was always yours- wasn't that why you two were suspended for dormitory misconduct?" The vulpine's voice was serious, but this again prompted a peal of laughter. Falco and Slippy both remembered what had happened, and it was something worth remembering. Even Krystal gave a chuckle, although she scanned Fox's thoughts to make sure he was being honest.

"Now, Wolf." said Fox, gaining control of himself. "You got in trouble at the Academy too. But anyway, what's with the cruiser? What do we do with it?"

The lupine shrugged in his cockpit, and let Leon do the talking. "The Cornerian Wolf can do more transport then you think, and it's got stronger tractor beams then the Great Fox has. It's got a larger hangar and a repair facility, and it's also got high speed and maneuverability. We've got about six spare Wolfen fighters in there, and believe or not, a Cornerian Fighter and an old Mark I Arwing."

"We use it as our support ship." explained Wolf. "It boosts our communications range and scanner abilities. It's run by a smart computer. Leon did something to it." The chameleon hissed a bit over the comm.

"Improved it, you mean."

"Whatever. It still cannot outfly me." came Panther's voice, sounding bored again. The Cat's Paw, hovering off Panther's right wing gave a bit of a shake.

"Of course not, Panther." said Katt. Some of the others nearby grinned, then Bill turned to his team, flying Lerowing Vs.

"Alright guys. Take formation around Star Fox and Star Wolf. I'll take point with Fox. Wolf, drift back a little and get above Star Fox."

"Who made you king?" muttered Wolf, but he saw the sense in this and moved his team into formation. Panther immediately started complaining.

"This position, it is unbefitting of a pilot like me! There will be nothing to shoot!"

"Shut it, or I'm going to fly up there and give your fur a good tanning." growled Falco.

"Falco!" berated Katt. But the team was saved from further bickering when ROB came over the communications line.

"Warp signature detected. Enemy arrival imminent."

"Alright, guys, this is it!" said Fox, rubbing his paws together to rid them of sweat. "Abbey, drop to the rear of the column, stay behind us. Wolf, get your cruiser between the Great Fox and the Streak Bird. Bill, you heard that, get the Streak Bird to the Great Fox's left. Those three ships should stay behind us."

"Roger that."

"Alright, Fox."

"I see them up ahead!" called Slippy, prompting an instant reply from Leon. The two quickly began squabbling over scanner efficiency when Fox slammed his paw onto his dashboard. The others fell silent, and Krystal looked worriedly at her friend.

"Alright, _boys_, that's enough." said Krystal, quoting a line she'd said on Sauria. Fox grinned a bit, his bad mood lifting. Bill broke the reprieve though. "Fighters coming up ahead, let's have at it!"

"Alright, engage your own targets!" yelled Fox. "Wait, Slippy, get back here!" But as usual, Slippy had broken formation, and Falco was right behind him. The toad flew a tight line directly at his foes, while Falco swooped upwards to try a diving attack. Before both got within shooting range, however, they both swerved to avoid being hit by Abbey, who had fired the Great Fox's main guns at a ship. This was a pulse shot, what Peppy had fired at the Aparoid Base- an angry red ball of power that left a fiery contrail behind it. The team heard Peppy berating his younger comrade, but they also heard Abbey whoop as the craft she'd aimed for exploded in a flash of light.

"Hey, he was mine!" yelled Slippy, requoting himself from the Lylat War. The toad jinked upwards, then cut his engines and turned around, blasting the fighter that had gone below him. Falco whistled, surprised.

"Nice moves, Slip-up." he said. "Where'd you learn that?" The avian had already shot down three fighters with a quick spiral upwards and a loop, but Slippy suddenly passed him by accurately picking off five more fighters.

"I've been practicing." said Slippy happily, then he pulled up in a tighter loop then any of the team had ever tried before. He'd obviously also checked his Arwing's hardware, for the ship handled the loop admirably. Fox grinned, still trying to catch up. Krystal was on his wing, and the two foxes, fighting within the same square of space quickly racked up their kills.

"Wait a second." said Fara, slamming on her brakes and shooting the fighter that flew by her. "That's Krystal there? Then where'd Peppy go?"

"He's on the ship." said Falco in a strained voice, barrel rolling to hit three ships with reflected lasers. "Hah, Slippy, I've got eight!" A charged shot roared from Falco's nose blaster, detonating within five other ships and disintegrating them. "Make that 13!"

"Aww, 12!" groaned Slippy, dodging around Fox to take out a fighter. Krystal seemed distracted, suddenly pulling out of a half-completed loop. A fighter shot her thrice before she recovered, spun around, and shot the offending craft.

"Krys? What's wrong?" asked Fox. "What's going on?" He was shocked when Krystal's saddened face came up on the comm. screen.

"This isn't like fighting Oikonny, or Andross." she said, her voice quavering. "I can sense this, Fox! These people- they have lives, husbands, wives, children, jobs, friends!" Her voice was quickly dissolving into a sob as the implications of what she was doing struck her. "These are people like _us,_ Fox!"

"Krystal!" called Fox, but he was distracted suddenly by an approaching fighter. When he had removed it, he called out to Krystal. "Krystal, get out of here! Get back to the Great Fox! You can't stay here like this!"

Krystal, still crying , murmmured a soft apology and broke away from the fight. Fox saw an advanced fighter lock onto her as she fled, pursuing her towards the Great Fox.

"Oh no you don't, you little twerp." he growled, pulling the trigger on his ship. The lasers streaked outwards and burned into the enemy ship, but shields, rare on the enemy ships, flared up and absorbed the blast. Fox soon found himself in a tight dogfight, matched with an opponent with just as much skill as him. He jinked and rolled desperately, trying to gain the upper hand. Then a fighter flew into him.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhh!" he cried, rolling instinctively. The magnetic field generated by his roll repelled the debris away from him, but damage had been done. The fox was now at 40 percent shields, with his enemy fast closing.

"I can't shake him!" he cried in a panic, jinking furiously.

"Fox? What's wrong? Answer me!" yelled Falco.

"Fox!" yelled Slippy and Krystal in unison, both sensing and seeing what was going to happen. Then, at the last moment, even as the enemy charged a shot, a Wolfen soared into view and destroyed the enemy ship with a well aimed missile.

"You owe me one." came Wolf's bass voice. Fox, recovering quickly, pulled a U-turn and took out a similar fighter tailing Wolf.

"Correction, we are quits." he said, swerving to avoid being hit by Leon. The chameleon's Wolfen seemed to be firing five charged shots at once, taking out a great number of targets at a time. Leon had no trouble with morality like Krystal did.

"Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!" he yelled in exhilaration, rolling through an explosion. "I could do this all day!"

"Me too." said Panther. "I want to go eat. This is boring." The feline effortlessly pulled up, stopped, then sailed down and rammed his opponent, destroying it instantly. "We are being paid for this?"

"Shut up, Panther." muttered Wolf, pulling a similar trick. "Just shut up."

* * *

"Krystal? Are you all right?" demanded Peppy, helping the tearful Krystal from her Arwing. The vixen softly murmured a reply, then came back to reality as Peppy started shaking her. "Are you all right?" 

"Y-yes!" she stammered. Peppy's expression softened.

"I'm sorry, Krystal." he said. "Don't tell me why you're upset. I could hear you. Help me back up to the bridge. You can stay here for the rest of the fight." Krystal nodded wordlessly. "Fox will understand." continued Peppy. "He knows your reasons. Relax a bit."

Just as he said this, Abbey dashed into the room. "Sorry, Peppy!" she called. "Someone's got to fly this bird!" She found her spare Arwing, then leapt into it and blasted off, disengaging her craft from the launching rig to save time. Peppy shook his head as the vacuum of space tugged at him and Krystal before the force fields reappeared. Shaking his old head tiredly, he leaned on Krystal as the younger vixen helped him up to the bridge.

"She's not like you, Krystal." he said softly. "Most of the team already know the moral implications of what we're doing. I know I did. I had a few friends on Venom, back from before the Three Sicknesses. Most of them perished in the epidemics. But I flew against some of them during the Lylat Wars. I never told another soul. It was every man for himself. Fox seriously considered retiring. The Sauria mission had landed the team such a bounty that we were able to overhaul everything and still have enough leftover cash to live a peaceful life somewhere. But Fox, he's restless. And then the Aparoid invasion came up, and we all forgot everything." He chuckled softly. "I can understand why this would be different for you. We're not fighting against something truly evil this time. Had you flown against Andross himself, you would understand. That ape was insane. Oikonny was just ambitious. Andrew, he wasn't truly evil. He was trying to live up to his uncle, but he wouldn't have been so bad if Star Wolf hadn't found him first."

By the time the hare had finished his speech, the two had reached the bridge. Peppy sat down, settling himself at the controls. "Keep in mind that these people don't all feel the same feelings towards us. Fox once said long ago that he prefers aerial combat to ground combat. There are fewer variables, less danger. But he also mentioned that he hated seeing the soldier before he fired. In space, it's just you, your ship, and another ship. No faces. But it's the same for our foe, too. We are the defenders, and have every right to lash back."

Krystal sadly shook her head. "Cernia...we did not believe that. We only had light stunning and incapacitating weapons. Almost none of our weapons were designed to actually pursue an offensive strategy. The weapons of Lylat are designed to kill."

"As are those of the enemy." interjected Peppy. "Krystal, I know not of how Cernia fell, but it is not something to tell an old and tired hare like me. I was around when Kethra fell. It used to be about the size of Corneria. I say used to. James, and Pigma, and I flew down. We tried our best, but Pigma's scanners were damaged and I lost one of my wings. We weren't able to stop Andross from releasing one of his bio-weapons. No, not that kind," he said, sensing what Krystal was thinking about, "but an actual biological weapon. Almost every living thing on that planet was killed, and the terrain crumbled to dust. The crust became so unstable that it was lost in space, and the remaining ball of lava spewed fire everywhere until it solidified. Only a few refugee ships made it out, and even some of those got pulled back into the planetary remains and were destroyed."

Krystal nodded. "Cernia's warriors stood with staffs in paw. We realized, too, that fight was upon us and war was inevitable. We held the lines for a few days, maybe. Then we fell. I was on a refugee ship and escaped. I don't know what Cernia was destroyed with myself, only that those who remained cried out in anguish before leaving this world." She cried softly, then tried to pull herself together.

Peppy tiredly looked out the windshield. His paws settled over the controls and he began to guide the Great Fox forward.

* * *

"Bill, I've got three of them, they're right behind me! Get them off, willya?" said Fara coolly, chasing after a craft of her own. She locked on, then fired her shots, the ships ahead of her disintegrating. The fennec then tried to pull a loop, but her boosters didn't take it well, and she stalled. 

"Alright, hold on a tick, will you?" replied Bill. "I'm kinda busy here as well!" His distinctive Lerowing spun on its wing, then with pinpoint accuracy, it blasted holes in its pursuers. The hulks coasted by him before being destroyed. The dog punched his powerful boosters, the Lerowing speeding forwards far faster then its counterparts could. Blue lasers lanced out from the craft, and soon, the three ships on Fara's tail disappeared, destroyed or scattered.

"Thanks." replied Fara gratefully. She took up position on Bill's right wing again, staying close as the two ships continued blasting their way through the foes around them.

* * *

"Alright, maybe this is not as easy as I thought." grumbled Panther. "Stupid fly, leave Panther alone!" 

"Can't help you, Panther." said Leon distantly. "Something's overheating in here. Deal with it yourself."

"Cut the whining, Caruso! Get him off you, now!" yelled Wolf, rolling his Wolfen sharply to the right and shattering the ships it hit. "We can't reach you in time!"

"Bah, some help you are." grumbled Panther.

"Oh, shut it. I thought you were Wolf's head pilot?" said a grumbling voice. "Falco here, I'll be on your wing shortly. Try to keep him from frying you, okay?"

"Go away, bird." said Panther haughtily.

"Oh, save yourself then!" croaked Slippy, who had just destroyed his foe with supreme grace and skill.

"Nice flying, Slippy." said Fox approvingly. "I'm impressed!"

"Yeah, but you'd still lose to me." replied Falco. "Passed you, I'm at 25 down."

"26, beat that!" crowed Slippy, the amphibian still on an adrenaline rush.

"Panther, roll to your right, now!" ordered Wolf suddenly. Panther did so, although he looked surprised. Suddenly, a powerful laser slashed through the air and destroyed the ship tailing Panther, just as it fired a powerful charged blast.

"Who? Katt!" shouted Panther, surprised. Katt smiled over the commlink, as did Panther.

_The two are suited, really._ thought Wolf absent-mindedly. _Perhaps she will join after all_.

"Nothing doing." said Katt casually, but her face was still flushed with excitement.

The battle raged on. Bill's men were easily holding their own against the less-trained soldiers of Grall, and they had sustained little damage. But soon Katt screamed that the Cat's Paw was taking heavy damage, and she was seconds away from destruction.

"Hold on, belle!" cried Panther, screaming in from above. For the third time that day, the feline rammed his ship through another one, although this time, his shields failed.

"Ah, I must be careful!" he murmured. Wolf, on the other hand, was yelling at him to get out.

"Wolf, the Wolfen's armor can take some hits." said Leon. "And if Panther's as good as he says he is, he can earn his own pay by sticking around."

"Quiet, fool." said Panther calmly. "Katt, take my spare Wolfen. You cannot stay here, love."

Katt looked mortified at being put out of battle so quickly, but she made up lost face. "I'll be back." she resolved, then took off, the Cat's Paw smoking and sparking as it went. However, thanks to the combined efforts of Wolf, Fox, and Panther, she made it to the hangar safely. Minutes later, a fresh Wolfen zipped form the hangar, and it soared into battle, clumsily pulling a loop before the pilot gained control over this new machine.

The battle was all but finished when the 20 Lylatians returned to formation, cutting their foes into shrapnel and fire. As the ships began to drift to their respective motherships, Fox worriedly brought up a question.

"Where did their capital ships go? I didn't see them anywhere."

A much calmer Krystal answered from the Great Fox. "Fox, I think they were only here for awhile. They may be analyzing our weapons, but after they realized you were tearing them apart, they fled. We can rest.

"That was a great job, guys." said Peppy. "Come on now, and let's get some rest." He was greeted with a chorus of weary agreement, then Slippy piped up.

"How about a party on the Great Fox in an hour?" he asked. This was greeted more enthusiastically, and soon all the ships were docked, their pilots reveling in their victory and waiting for the celebration.

Krystal and Fox sat in their room, embracing tightly. Fox pulled away suddenly, looking at Krystal worriedly. "Krys, you can take a break from flying. I heard from Peppy what happened. You don't have to fly."

The vixen shook her head, then buried her muzzle in Fox's fur. "I'm sorry." she said.

"That's okay. I had the same trouble flying against Wolf, the first time we did so. He was an academy mate. I felt terrible, shooting him down. I don't know if it's the same for you, not being a telepath and all, but I'll be here if you need help."

"Fox..." she said. "I'm sorry anyways."

"Don't be. I've had to take breaks from flying as well. Now, let's get ready. Slippy and Peppy have probably cooked something, and Falco will eat it all if we don't get ourselves presentable for the party. Come on, now!"

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Wow, an author's note at the end of the chapter! Well, I've just brought more and more boring party dialogue upon myself, but what do you think will become of this? Please R&R, and thanks for reading! And yes, those Capital Ships went somewhere...but who will rise to attack them? Just wait, and you'll find out:D Sir Raph, signing off! 


	10. Return of Star Fox

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note:_ I think you all know the drill by now. Thanks, V-Starfox and notfromEarth7. Your reviews are quite regular, and I enjoy them a great deal. Nice to know that there are people who don't just pop in, read a bit, then never read it again. 

As a side note, I'm sorry my update rate has been slowing. It's just a bit hard, and I've never been a fan of stories that are mostly dialogue. I mean...well, it just gets boring. However, several stories, such as the Overlord Trilogy and Phoenix from the Ashes avoided this by genuinely making the dialogue interesting. I know for sure that I can't, so I'm sorry, but you'll have to suffer through an absolutely rotten party scene. :P Other then that, enjoy!

Oh wait. There will be some action after all! I left that footnote on the capital ships, didn't I? Well, a promise is a promise! _NOW_ you can enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 8 Return of Star Fox**

* * *

The party on board the Great Fox was quite something. Every pilot that made up the "Lylat Salvation Team," as Slippy dubbed it, attended. Slippy and Peppy had both whipped up a decent meal, which was uncommon amongst pilots, most of whom would set a ship on fire before they could cook so much as toast. It was then that the pilots said, "Thank the Creator for the microwave." 

_Of course, they could just teach some cooking in the Academy and be done with it, _reflected Slippy wryly. _Most pilots are bachelors, and unless they planned on going home to Mother after graduating, they'd have to get their own meals. Besides, Instant-Food tastes stale after awhile._

The toad walked carefully, taking great care not to get crushed by the trampling feet. The Great Fox had been equipped with a Recreation Room to keep the team from going utterly insane, and part of that room had been the small dance floor. It was small, to be sure, but could still hold most of the LST. Most everyone was down here. Although Wolf and Leon had pulled away for the main group, drinking as much cold drinks as they could, Panther was dancing with Katt, center-stage. A bit further off to the side was Fox and Krystal, close to Bill and Fara. The mixed group of Lylatian pilots of the Streak Birds also did a few numbers. Slippy mainly hung back by the music console, putting on songs when requested and sipping icy drinks when not.

* * *

Peppy listened to the faint thuds of the speakers down below. The hare leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He was just what he'd told Krystal earlier. A tired, old hare whose times had long since passed him by. 

_Ah, youth._ he reflected. _Corneria offered it to me, but I'm too old for any medicine. Besides, what is the point in living forever? We do that in the afterlife as well. By all rights, I should have died at the Aparoid Homeworld._ He brooded a bit on this thought. _I certainly garnered a lot more accolades for that little stunt._

His mind acting on a whim, he swiveled his chair over to a large glass case on the far wall. It was flanked on both sides by smaller cases. Fox had insisted on placing Peppy's awards front and center. As he'd explained, "Peppy, you've been with us since forever, and I'll be damned if you don't get what you deserve." In the smaller cases were numerous awards merited to the other team members, and the team as a whole.

Peppy pushed his spectacles up his nose. He could have gotten a surgery, of course, but these certainly helped him portray the old, wise identity he possessed right now. He squinted at a huge award in the exact center, then smiled and leaned back.

The award in the center was hand-crafted out of the finest wood and metals the system could offer. In the center of the pedestal stood Corneria, but in the foreground stood four, beautifully-made Arwings. The plaque below had a lengthy inscription on it, but Peppy knew what it meant. It was the system's highest award, presented unanimously to the team after the Lylat Wars.

_James would've been proud._ he thought idly. _To know that Fox would go on to do such great things. He turned down most of our payment after the Aparoid Wars, even if Falco grumbled a little. That caught the media's eye. _

He looked around a bit for the award presented after the Aparoid War had concluded, then gave up and ran his eyes along the many shining golden plaques and trophies, medals and ribbons that adorned these shelves. Going down would probably only blast his ears out, anyway.

* * *

Over Corneria, a strange-looking craft came into view. Its occupants were a bit gaunt and looked immensely tired, but the ship seemed to be fine. The ship had six wings, but one was between two others in a way that looked suspiciously like it had been crudely joined after construction. The paint scheme, too, was off. One half of the ship was black, red, and white, while the other half was blue and silver. The ship coasted further on its two engines, then was surrounded by a wreath of flame as it began a rapid decent onto Corneria.

* * *

The Cornerians saw it too. Many pointed at it and screamed as a ball of fire streaked through the air, leaving a mighty contrail behind it. A news reporter was frantically speaking into his microphone, his cameraman desperately trying to avoid being run over by the crowds, either running to see what was going on, or fleeing from it. 

"This is Will Thermis of Corneria Planetary! I'm reporting in downtown Corneria City, where much of the populace has sighted an unknown object streaking through the skies at great speed! Whether this is a weapon, a comet, or some other type of thing has yet to be known. Scientists are examining it as we speak, and General Pepper, recently discharged from the hospital, assures us that the planetary defenses are being armed and locked."

The camera panned to zoom in on Pepper, who was standing on the roof of a military base not far way. A Mark IV Arwing rested on the base's launching pad, gleaming with a radiant light as Pepper talked to a consultant. Then, to the consternation and surprise of everyone who saw him, the aging canine opened the cockpit and hopped in. The raccoon news reporter started.

"By the Creator! We've just been informed that Pepper is going to pursue this thing himself!" The camera focused on the new Arwing as it ran preflight checks, the reporter still babbling on.

"The Arwing IV is still a prototype craft and has design specifications kept tightly under wraps by the military! That it is being unveiled in this manner may show the true potential of the Arwing line! Great Scott, he's taking off!"

The Arwing rumbled suddenly, and a light blue pulse shot out in a circle from below the Arwing. An aura of royal blue light gathered around the main engine releases, then flared brightly into a white stream of light. The pulse of light from below the Arwing began to repeat, and increase in rapidity and intensity. The Arwing lifted gracefully off the pad, then shot forwards as the stream of light from the engines took over, and the ship smoothly slid into flying speeds.

"This marks the first time that the illustrious General Pepper has taken off in more than 15 years!" chattered the reporter excitedly. "He's marking on the target now, apparently to use the new Arwing's sensors to try and take a snapshot view of the object for the scientists!"

The Arwing rapidly gained on the object, still falling out of the sky. Then, just as Pepper took his snapshots and scans, the contrail behind the thing disappeared abruptly. Against the pale blue sky, the earthward-bound craft vanished to the visible eye, and Pepper's sensors went blank.

"Something's happened! It's vanished!" cried the reporter. Millions of citizens saw that footage. Both the cameraman and reporter later became famous as the footage was eagerly examined by rival spacetech companies, but not much became of it. No, most citizens were now interested in hearing Pepper's report.

* * *

"What is this?" demanded Pepper, tapping the viewscreen with a pointer. The image was of a strange, conjoined looking _thing._ "You are the recognition specialists, aren't you? Speak up! I want a report, and I want it now!" 

One of the two specialists, a wolf, spoke first after squinting at the object. "Pardon me if I'm wrong, sir, but judging from the wing positions and paint scheme, I would hazard a guess as those being the Mark I Wolfen, dating back from the Lylat Wars, flown by Star Wolf, and the Mark I Arwing, also dating back to the Lylat Wars, flown by Star Fox. But the way they're joined together is puzzling."

"So it is indeed." said Pepper wearily. _No rest on this shift, never, ever. Maybe I should have retired._

* * *

The ship turned towards Corneria City, swooping in low to avoid detection. Then, with a jarring creak, the two halves of the ship separated as the Arwing's G-Diffuser powered down slightly. The two ships, Wolfen and Arwing, landed in a deserted parking lot. Two figures got out of the cockpits. 

"I'm starving." said one. "If this place hasn't changed too much in the last few years, then there'll be a diner two blocks or so from here."

"Let's find out." said the other figure, and the two walked off down the busy lanes. Before they left the lot, though, they scanned the area to make sure no one had seen the ships. Then they left.

* * *

"What do you mean, this card doesn't work?" said one angrily at the diner. He was waving a credit chip, looking at the waiter with annoyance. 

"I'm sorry, sir, but it's out of date, and from the serial number, looks like it's not been paid for awhile."

"Oh, forget this." grumbled the person, pulling a few old bills from his pocket. "Old fashioned credits still work, right?"

"Rather."

Without further incident, the two bought their meals, sat down, and ate. Soon after, both went to leave their ships at a repair facility, leaving their names as Mr. Smith and Mr. Ragned. Both then left for a stroll around the city.

* * *

Several hours later, upon their return, the two picked up their ships. "Good as new." said one with satisfaction. "You wouldn't believe how long I've wanted these engines and communications online." 

"At least you had backup engines. When mine went out, I thought I was a goner."

"Well, obviously, your luck still holds. I wonder where the others have gotten to? Maybe I should check the old house..."

"I've got some places to look at. See you in an hour?"

"Roger that."

The two went their separate ways then. The first one headed towards where an apartment complex once stood. To his surprise, there was a sign aboard the place that proclaimed it to be a museum of the Lylat Wars. The figure cocked his head interestedly, and went inside. He soon found a room that was darkened. The seats in this room where all packed, and they appeared to be waiting for something. A timer at the top of the far wall was counting down from a minute. The figure slipped into one of the rear seats and waited, very interested. A pedestal, also by the far wall made him think of a speaker. He would like to hear this.

To his surprise, when the timer ran out, a hologram of Fox McCloud appeared next to the pedestal. It- he, bowed. To the fur, it was Fox, rendered with incredible realism. The vulpine opened his mouth and spoke.

"Good day, ladies and gentlemen. As many of you know- and have probably studied about- the Lylat Wars was a planetary conflict that spanned the system. My team and I fought through each sector and planet before we reached Venom. But that isn't the point of this exhibit. This speech is to honor the original Star Fox team, which perished on Venom a full 5 years before the Lylat Wars."

"The original team comprised of three, incredibly competent pilots. From left to right, they were Pigma Dengar, Peppy Hare, and my father, James McCloud. In response to abnormal activity on Venom, General Pepper sent Star Fox, then essentially a military crack squad, to the planet's surface."

"The details were lost to us long ago, but it is clear from the recollections of my close friend, Peppy Hare, that Pigma betrayed the team. A small amount of footage, shown now, was recovered from Peppy's recorders. My father is in the lead Arwing, while Pigma is to his left. Peppy is to his right, although it may be difficult to see due to the camera angle."

The vulpine onstage was silent for a while, watching as events unfolded onscreen. Peppy and James were exchanging conversations, although Peppy's revelation had been cut from the recording. Suddenly, the screen rolled upwards and focused on a squadron of Venomian fighters.

"At this stage in the fighting, Peppy bravely turned his ship around to cover my father, who had crippled Andross's transport. Peppy came out of this encounter with no shields and a badly damaged armor plating, and was forced to evacuate immediately. The comm. records show that my father fully intended to follow him out, but he never made it. He disappeared on that day."

Fox went on speaking, detailing how James McCloud had been a great father and mentor. The figure in the back soon turned and left the room, looking mildly interested and moved. He hadn't known of this.

* * *

The peace of the streets was shattered with an deafening siren from the city's main base. Searchlights suddenly pierced the skies, and a loudspeaker announced that all pilots were required to report to the base immediately. The figure took off into a run, and he met with his friend back at the parking lot. 

"You hear that?" asked the other.

"Yup. Come on, get in. Let's launch and see what this is all about."

The two craft streaked into the sky, just as a swarm of fighters launched from the base doors.

* * *

In space, the Cornerian fighters began to sound off. 

"This is Gold Squad Leader, sounding off."

"This is Gold 1, I'm ready."

"Gold 2, same here."

"Gold 3, I'm ready for battle."

"Gold 4, present."

"Red Leader, ready."

"Gold 5, ready."

"Red 1, standing by..."

Then, with the assembly lists all tallied, the squad leaders were about to form up when a voice crackled over the comm. systems.

"Star Fox Leader, standing by. James here."

"Fox 2, Pigma Dengar, ready."

The two craft, Arwing and Wolfen, streaked towards the massed body of fighters. Astonished, the pilots neither fired, spoke, nor moved. Then Pepper came over the commlink.

"Gold Leader, what's going on? I'm coming up right now, and I want us to be deployed within five minutes!"

"Pepper." said the Arwing's occupant simply. "They've stopped because we sounded off. Couldn't resist it." The voice was laced with amusement.

"Same here." said Pigma. "We just had a good meal, and we're ready to fly."

'What in the name of the Creator is going on here?" demanded Pepper, pulling up the new Arwing next to James. Then he looked sideways out his cockpit. "Oh, heavens above..." he said, astonished. James smirked.

"Long time no see, eh? It's me, the one and the only." he said. "What birds is Corneria flying now, anyway?"

"Lerowing IVs, the Vs are in the field, and this is the Arwing IV." said Pepper mechanically, still looking stunned. "James, you were listed as dead for over 13 years! Pigma, you've been on the Traitor Roll for just as long! How did you get here? What happened? In the name of the-"

"Calm down, General." cut in Pigma. "We figured you were under attack and we're here for flying, now for chatter. We can all catch up later, though I'm none too thrilled to learn I've got a price on my head."

"Never mind that now." said General Pepper, still looking stunned. _The media's going to have a field day with this, _he thought off handedly. "Just stay with me. Cornerian medical science is good enough that I can fly just as well as you two. We're under attack by large ships. Help us fend them off, or else we're all dead."

"Thanks for the welcome." said James dryly. "When should we expect these invaders?"

"Can't help there." said Pigma. "This thing has nowhere near as advanced scanners as the Arwing."

"In about 30 seconds." said Pepper, ignoring the pig. "Come on, you two. I hope those relics you're flying are still serviceable, considering they're both seriously out of date and repair."

"We just fixed them up." said Pigma. "You wouldn't believe what they repair downtown. No questions asked."

"Where'd you get the credits? Your chips expired years ago- I remember taking them off the roster."

"From our last job." said James. "Now, are we going to chatter, because 10 seconds now is looking awfully close..."

As he finished, three blue flashes announced the arrival of the Graillian Capital ships. The first shots to be fired were from Pepper's Arwing, the improved lasers streaking out. A shimmering white in color, they were followed by a sudden lance of powerful yellow energy, then a Nova bomb. The white lasers tore at the lead ship's shielding, while the beam turned it red in color until the bomb struck it and blew it away. Pepper whooped suddenly, causing heads to stare, and thrusted forwards, Pigma and James doggedly following behind, while the Lerowing IVs of the Cornerians, with the odd III and V thrown in by specialist units rocketed forward in unison. What Cornerian Wildfire-Class Capital Ships that had survived Oikonny and the Aparoids followed the fighters, bluish plasma rays streaking from their cannons. The charge rushed forwards, spearheaded by the dimmunitive figures of the first General to lead his forces into battle for centuries, and by two pilots believed lost. Every ship vied with the others as it rushed towards the far larger capital ships of Grall- and the fighters and lasers that were being returned.


	11. A Blaze of Glory

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Argh, my e-mail finally decided to conk out on me, so I didn't know of any reviews until the numbers '13' and '14' came up and slapped me in the face. So, yeah, sorry about that. Thanks, V-Starfox and notfromEarth7. You two are the best. 

So, let's get back to the story! I drew up a map while I was at the library, and now I've got a basic plan on where the team's going. Trust me, it's a wild ride that really goes all over the place. If you'd like to see my map, contact me through e-mail or a personal message and I'll see what I can do.

Question to my readers- what do you think of Pepper being in the cockpit? I'm considering having him take personal command of the Streak Birds or some other military unit. Also, what about James? Would it pain any of you to see him in the Arwing's nemesis, the Lerowing? Nah, we'll see. Remember, Wolf's got a spare Mark I Arwing on the Cornerian Wolf.

The fighting that's going on in this chapter and probably the next two are in Cornerian defense zones Grant 3 and Grant 2. Grant 2 covers Corneria's moon, Alres. Here are a bunch of changes and probably storyline locations:

-Kethra. Remember that? It's the planet that the original Star Fox Team was sent to save, but was destroyed by a biological weapon that attacked even the planet's non-organic crust and allowed it to be swept out in space, which simultaneously destroyed the atmosphere as well. Whether the weapon was purely biological or had hidden geological effects is unknown, but Kethra's now surrounded by designated hazardous location Rista 6, or the Dust Cloud.

-Alres, moon of Corneria. It's primarily a military location, with civilians there to support the local military. Yeah, I'm talking about supplies and stuff, not the whole 'army/girl' thing. Alres is encompassed by Grant 2.

-Grant 2/3 are designated defense zones of Corneria that protect it from Grall, similar to Area 6 in Star Fox 64. The current fighting with James, Pigma, and Pepper is in Grant 3, but when the Star Fox Team gets back, the fighting will be in Grant 2.

-Sector X/Y/Z. These locations have now been each given 2 more warps. If you've played Star Fox 64 and flown through the really cool spinning blue rings in Meteo, you know what I mean.

-Area 4/5/6 are Venomian defense locations, along with Bolse 2. Remember the Krazoa, gods of peace? They may have helped more than Sauria.

-Zoness: Well, yeah. I don't know why they're gonna go here.

-Aparoid Homeworld: Trust me, it's not quite the original, but it's similar. Turns out the Aparoids had a device to bring the planet back together if there was a core malfunction. A few aparoids that mutated still live around here, but they're mostly leaderless and unintelligent. Sorry, Star-Vix, but Fluffy will have to wait. Oh yes, let me draw attention to something Krystal said during "Breaching the Defenses" in Star Fox: Assault.

"I'm sensing a faint will from the buildings themselves."

Trust me, you will learn the truth of that matter...and the darker sides behind it.

-Venom. Nothing new here, but remember, I've plans for it. The team sees this place before heading out to the Aparoid Homeworld, reached via the Great Fox.

Enough long notes- let us continue on to the story! And I'm sorry it's kinda short, I just wanted to end it at a nice spot.

* * *

**Chapter 9 A Blaze of Glory

* * *

**"All ships are ordered to shift their fire to the rightmost capital ship!" boomed Pepper's voice. "I want to roll these things up their flank. Our capital ships are smaller and more maneuverable. I want all available forces from Grant 1, 2, 4, and 5 to be here immediately! All Wildfire-Class battleships, sweep around for a few minutes, then stand at extreme cannon range and pound their broadside. I want 4 Saber-Class battleships and 4 Dreadnought-class ships here immediately to add heavier artillery!"

* * *

To subordinates on the ground, this meant an instant flurry of action in command headquarters as rosters were drawn up. 

"We have 20 ships that can launch within 5 minutes, miss!" shouted the officer at the diagnostics console. The communications officer began calling over the planetary lines.

"Battleships Herald, Medusa, Vortex, you are ordered to proceed immediately to Grant 3." she called, already drawing up rosters for the next zone. The next officer on comm. duty began working to get the Great Fox online as technicians scrambled to boost signals and launch ships. Everywhere on the planet surface, starcraft powered up their engines and made for space.

* * *

"All fighters, drop back a bit, cover the capital ships! Cruisers, to the front, fire at will!" ordered Pepper again. The headlong charge had become and orderly assault, the heavy ships drifting to the rear with the lighter fighter carriers, cruisers, and destroyers moving into the middle row, even as the Cornerian fighters swarmed to engage their Graillian counterparts. 

"This is Pepper 1, Gold Leader, you've got bogies behind you!" called the general. "Stand still, I'm going to get him off you in a tick."

"Roger, Pepper 1. Please hurry, he's dropping my shields. This is ridiculous."

"I know that much." muttered Pepper. "James, Pigma, cover me!"

"Roger."

"Moving into position."

The three ships retained their spearpoint formation. James broke off to bring down a fighter with his twin lasers, though it was far more laborious then he remembered it to be. Pigma did the same for one that ventured too close, vaporizing it with a well placed shot in a critical area. The debris rocketed past the pig, striking his shields lightly, but leaving him and Pepper unscathed. The pig barrel rolled quickly to deflect some of the better aimed sdhots, but kept closely on Pepper's 6, the Wolfen still handling admirably as James struggled to get more kick out of his boosters, laboriously rejoining the formation.

"This thing doesn't need repairs, it needs a complete overhaul." he grumbled, even as the pure white lasers erupted from Pepper's guns. In a flash, the ship tagging Gold Leader blew up in a spectacular flash.

"Score another one for the Mark IV." said Pepper, chuckling. "You two need to upgrade your ships as soon as we get down from here."

"Tell me about it." grumbled Pigma. "This thing is nothing like my old Arwing."

"Speaking of that..." said James, looping upwards and taking out a fighter. "What happened to yours?"

"Andross incinerated it." said Pigma shortly. "Along with all my snacks, pictures, and mementos. I could have fried him just for that, but I decided to leave him to your son. He did a good job of it too."

"Not as good as you would think." said Pepper, barrel rolling quickly.

"What do you mean, General? And shouldn't you take it easy?" The old hound chuckled more at this.

"I told you, James. Cornerian medical technology has litterally made me younger. I may be rusty, but I worked my way up through combat missions and I can take this better then you can. I'd suggest it for you. It's quite rejuviating. As for Andross...he reappeared over Sauria, after Star Fox ran out of funding and nearly went bankrupt. With beat up Arwings, your son blasted the heck out of him."

James stared agape at his old friend. "You mean...even after I helped him..."

"Yes, Andross still hung around. I don't know how he did it, but he did."

"Bah." said James curtly. "Let's get back to matters at hand. How are you, General? These things are taking my shields out faster then you can say 'vulpine."

"I'm doing quite alright- this thing is still at full shields. Those shots are incredibly high powered, though. Our standard Lerowing IVs are taking it well though. It's just our archaic IIIs that are taking the damage."

"Maybe we should've found new ships." said James. "What of my son? You say they went...bankrupt?"

"Star Fox transferred out of the military mercenaries and became a separate group. They've saved the system thrice now, and they're out doing it in Mark III Arwings."

"And yours and mine?"

"Mine's still a prototype. A Mark IV. Yours is the first of the line, a Mark I."

"Great."

Combat continued in silence for awhile. Pepper continued to receive reports from his bases on the ground. Focusing on the battle at hand, he barely heard the report until he finished his loop and shot down two more fighters with his signature white lasers.

"General Pepper, sir, this is Tactical Officer Jane. The Cornerian force has lost twelve fighters and one cruiser. The remaining fighter compliment is all at relatively good conditions, and both Lerowing III squadrons are holding up very well. Remaining strength is at 138 out of 150 fighters, 9 out of 10 cruisers, and 20 out of 20 capital ships, along with a full carrier and destroyer compliment. Additional cruisers will be at your location in 3 minutes and counting to cover your battleships. Should we launch more ground fighters and subspace interceptors?"

"Hold out on the interceptors." said Pepper. "I want to hold our forces in reserve until we're clearly getting overwhelmed. Also, get two of the new Arwings ready, now. I want James and Pigma to get the best there are." Silence greeted his request.

"Well? hurry up and do it!"

"Sir, did I mishear you? Did you say...James McCloud and Pigma Dengar?"

"I assume you heard the earlier communications?"

"No sir, we were talking with the other bases."

"Well, they're back. Say hello, you two."

"Hello, you two."

"Don't be a smart-alec, Pigma." rebuked James. Little did they know of the sensations they just sparked off down below, and in the streets of Corneria.

"Alright you two, I want you to break off action as soon as you see fit and get those Arwings. The controls are the same, and you'll do no good with those beat up things."

"Alright. Pigma, you first."

"Roger that, James." Pigma's ancient Wolfen banked sharply, then streaked into the atmosphere. It would later be retired and wind up in the new Star Fox museum.

* * *

"Something's weird here, Pepper." said Pigma, dashing over the planet's surface. He was blasting towards the main base that Pepper had marked out on his Wolfen's computer. "The streets- I'm seeing crowds and crowds of people and what look like news cameras." 

"It's you and James. Did you expect any less?" said the general. "Pigma, just get your ship. Things are getting hairy up here."

"Understood." said Pigma sourly, then killing the communication, he continued on, spotting the two new Arwings instantly. He landed his Wolfen expertly on the roof, drawing admiring gasps from the crowd. Their enthusiasm was not abated when they saw it was Pigma Dengar, the notorious traitor. They had all heard the transmissions, which a certain intrepid reporter had hacked and broadcast over the airwaves, much to the chagrin of the local forces.

"This is it, then?" said Pigma, looking over the new Arwing admiringly.

"Yep. All yours." said the guard with a bow. "Its a pleasure, Mr. Dengar. Out of curiosity, when can we expect your friend?"

"The quicker I scramble, the faster he'll be down." answered Pigma. The crowd laughed good naturedly as the pig flopped onto the wing and lumbered into the cockpit. The engines powered up rapidly, and the G-Diffuser pulses lifted the ship off the ground, the shining stream from his engines shooting him forward and out of sight faster then the eye could follow.

The guard got up from his prone position. "Is he supposed to do that?" he asked of no one in particular. That quote would later become famous, along with many other things that day.

* * *

When the new Arwing came tearing into the skies, the foe was thrown into a panic. Fighting like a cornered tiger, Pepper's white lasers had cut apart the fighters, good as their pilots were, into shrapnel. His own forces where cheering him on, and his capital ships continued spraying the enemy with plasma shot. None of them had been damaged in the slightest, and the new cruisers and Dreadnoughts were quickly moving up. 

Yet if the Cornerians were tearing apart the Graillian fighters, the flow of them from the capital ships wasn't abating, and these monster ships were beginning to bring their elaborate defenses to bear. The fight was about these brutes, not the fighters they launched- and in this battle, they were losing, None of the three Grallian ships was showing any extensive amounts of damage, and the Cornerians were going to get tired. It might only take one simple mistake to bring the whole armada to fiery end.

Still, if the Cornerians were tired, the Grallians were now seriously worried. Until now, they had been keeping their elite in reserve, launching only standard craft and competent pilots. In the past, these had always been enough. The Eloria and Wagen Systems had both capitulated after assaults from these ships. Their pilots were capable and brave, and well disciplined in the art of war. Yet this enemy was something else. Only Team Elengale of the Eloria System had given them nearly as much trouble- in fact, thought one of the commanders, they still were.

"Launch the elite ships and their pilots." snapped the man. "I want to end this quickly. Send an ultimatum- if they refuse, we'll use the heavy guns and begin a planetary bombardment."

What good luck had favored the Lylatians until now deserted them. In a whirl of terrible chance, these ships were launching just as James descended into the atmosphere in a ball of flame to exchange his battered ship for his new Arwing. The Cornerians would now face the best of Grall- without one of the best pilots they'd seen in decades.


	12. The Resolve of Corneria

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note:_ I'm sorry about how ridiculously short the last chapter was, but I had other things to do and that was written mostly on a non MS-Word compatible computer, so I had to use Google Document. Well, it worked, but it was a little annoying (I kept having to ram the enter key for page brakes), so...yeah. 

Anyways, what of Chapter 9, other then an excuse to be lazy and showcase the Arwing IV? Well, we've learned that Corneria's desperately trying to get through to the Great Fox, and that James went down for repairs- just as the elite of Grall have launched. Can the outdated Lerowing IIIs and the outnumbered Lerowing IVs and Vs handle the test? Can Pepper and Pigma? Will Corneria submit to the ultimatum? Not on your life!

* * *

**Chapter 10 The Resolve of Corneria**

* * *

"Cornerian General, we demand your unconditional surrender immediately!" roared the Grallian lizard into his microphone. "If you do not submit and surrender your starfleet within 5 minutes, we will destroy you!" 

General Pepper sighed. If old generals rolled their eyes, he would have, but it was not befitting of him. "Grallian General, we deliver our own ultimatum. Leave now, or _we_ will destroy _you_, then mop up the remains for scrap metal."

"Brave words for a weak general." sneered the lizard. "Then we will commence our planetary bombardment, and you will be directly responsible for the destruction of your homeland."

Pepper rolled his eyes then in exasperation, but over a secure channel, he asked, "The planetary shields are up, right?"

"Affirmative." came Beltino's voice. "Also, James has arrived. He'll be up shortly."

"Thank the Creator for small favors." said Pepper. "Beltino, can you analyze these ships? And these pilots..."

"They're better." observed Pigma. "Look, they're keeping formation and splitting up. Smart move."

"Also, I would like to add that Pigma's better equipped to take scans." commented Beltino. "He's closer and knows scanners. Trust me on this one, General."

"Alright." said Pepper warily. "I don't trust this completely, but it's the only option."

"Affirmative." said Beltino, before nodding and signing off. In his seat, Pepper turned to Pigma after dodging a shot.

"It's up to you, Pigma. Red Squad and I will cover you. Come on, get to it!"

"Alright, alright!" said the pig, turning his Arwing and scanning his sensor array. The pig reached out with a pudgy paw and flipped two switches. His Arwing began whining as power was drained into the scanners from his main weapons..

* * *

Beltino saw the pulsing message on his computer, but refused to tell Pepper of it. Pigma knew what he was doing, and Toad trusted him for that. His gut feelings were usually right.

* * *

"General, can your men clear the fighters above the capital ship?" asked Pigma, setting his ship in the proper alignment. "I need the clearance if you don't want me to have to make five or so passes." 

"Sorry Pigma, I'll try, but Red Squad is being harassed. Gold Squad, do as told!"

The Lerowing IIIs of several of the other squads were dropping out of the battle one by one. Though their pilots had fought valiantly, they realized that Green Squad was on the verge of collapse, harried by skillful pilots with better machines. Green Leader regretfully told Pepper the news, just as his shields failed under an onslaught of laser fire. Barrel rolling quickly, he and his teammates retreated to the ground for repairs. Green Squad's part in this fight was over.

"Red Squad, come together. Take on your assailants as a group!" called Red Leader. Pigma had done a quick scan on these new fighters, and Red Squad's Lerowing IVs matched the foe, and the Vs of Gold Squad easily eclipsed them. Still, these pilots were good. They jinked, rolled, and fired with precision and coolness. One thing Pigma noted though caught their attention.

"These fighters don't have G-Diffusers. Get them into a stronger, local gravitational field, and we'll have them."

"Understood, Fox 2." replied the leader, setting a Grallian into his sights and blowing the unfortunate to pieces.

* * *

Meanwhile, James was flipping switches on his Arwing. He heard the crowds roaring outside, enthusiastically hailing their hero. 

_As I said earlier, nice welcome._ he thought, though he felt proud. He knew what he had done. It was just that circumstances prevented him from reveling in it. As a leader, he knew to enjoy himself, but he also knew _when._ Running the preliminary flight checks quickly, he searched for three precious minutes to find the switches controlling flight power. He threw the switches, and the Arwing's systems whined to life before powering down with a whirring noise. James swore and punched the control panel.

"Beltino, what's going on here?" he demanded, punching the reboot button over and over to bring his crashed systems online. Media interference was making Beltino's voice crackly.

"James...need to...calibrate...engine arrays...right switch, it's blue...flip..."

"Some help." muttered the fox, throwing the rightmost blue switch. The ship started up with a kick that threw the vulpine into his padded chair. He scarcely had the time to grab the controls before the G-diffuser pulses lifted the ship up and the engines sent it rocketing into space.

Beltino watched from a window, then walked over and smacked his communications console. The static that had been plaguing the screen vanished.

"Toad to Pepper." he said. "James is coming up."

* * *

"What was that?" yelled Pigma, still focusing on the screens in front of him. 

"James is coming up!" replied Pepper. "Scans done yet? Gold Squad's doing their best, but you don't have much time left!"

"Neither do you!" shot back Pigma. "I'm done! Analysis is complete! Weak points are between the guns on the turrets! Shield data and laser pulse configuration is coming up! Calibrate your lasers to Beta particles and your shields to resist Alphas! That'll cut their abilities, but hit the bottom turrets! They're charging for a planetary bombardment!"

"Alright Pigma!" called Beltino. Pepper only growled.

"Hurry up, everyone! I want as little damage to the planetary shields as possible! Take out those turrets!"

"Gotcha."

"Roger."

"Affirmative."

"We're on the attack position now!"

"Open fire at will!" barked Pepper, and he swerved around a fighter. "Capital ships and cruisers are to open fire on the turrets! Blue Squad, break away from the turrets and engage the enemy fighters!"

"I've locked the target data into the computers!" reported Pigma. Every pilot now saw the red crosshairs centered on their display windows, tracking across the cockpit as they flew.

"I'm approaching the first turret. Stand by, this is going to make quite a fireworks display." said Pigma, turning the Arwing onto its wing. Opening fire at close range, the pearl lasers devastated the weak shielding, blowing the turret to pieces in an incandescent flash. Pigma's Arwing nearly drilled into the hull of the ship as it was tossed about, and only quick thinking and an emergency wingtip polarity reversal, or a WPR, saved the swine. Little did he know of the role the WPR would play in future battles.

"This is Pigma, I'm alright." he said weakly, righting his ship. "One wing's a bit bent, but it's nothing more then half a degree, and I'm otherwise right as rain!"

"Alright. All teams, try and stay a bit further from the turrets when you fire." ordered Pepper, firing his own white lasers as he spoke. Another turret succumbed. Two of the three turrets on the leftmost battleship were showing damage, and the craft was now showing signs of damage. The third turret exploded as capital ship fire struck it. Pigma whooped.

"Shields across the craft are weakening!"

Pepper seized the opportunity. "All bomb-capable craft, launch Nova bombs! Missile-capable craft, fire armor-piercing, explosive, and incendiary missiles! Fire on my mark...mark!"

A dazzling display of glowing bombs and flaring missiles, darting amongst a hail of white, blue, green, and red laser fire greeted the combatants. The ship quivered as it was struck, great rents being torn in the hull as the overtaxed shields collapsed. The ship shuddered, a blackened heap full of dancing flame, before it crumbled, metal twisting and snapping as the ship broke in two, scattering debris everywhere.

Pepper's forces merely whooped and continued the fight, streaking off the attack the next ship, even as sobering reports indicated that 6 pilots had died in the explosion, and others had gone before it.

* * *

"General?" asked James, streaking through the upper atmosphere. Around him, even as the skies were fading to black, he could make out chunks of rubble and ship parts flashing by him, burning up as they entered the atmosphere. "I'm picking up debris all over the place, and my radar's going nuts. What happened?" 

Static filled his commlink, then Pepper came onscreen. "Sorry about that, James. Communications were disrupted by that hulk. We got one of the capital ships. If you're seeing debris, that's from the-"

"By the Creator!" exclaimed James suddenly, the shattered hull ahead of him filling his viewscreen. In that instant, he forgot his craft was advanced. He forgot it's incredible maneuverability. All he did was emit a bloodcurdling yell and barrel roll straight into the hulk ahead of him. Again, a quick WPR saved his ship, and he burst from the other side of the ruined ship in a gout of flame and shrapnel.

"James!" cried Pigma. "Are you alright?"

The vulpine took a second to collect his nerves as he continued rocketing away. Within a few seconds, he was able to manage, in a calm voice, "Yeah, yeah. Just freaked out a bit. I'll be clearing the shields in about 5 seconds, stand by..."

Pepper's reply was drowned in static as a bolt of incredible energy shot from the muzzle of a bombardment gun, flying towards James's Arwing. It vanished in a flare of light as the bolt struck something.

"By the Creator..." whispered Pepper. The shields had still not settled to their normal transparency, and their glaring hue made it impossible to make out James. Everyone broke off their attack suddenly, then they saw the charred remains of an Arwing stagger from the blast.

"Oh no." breathed Pigma, who then began to run his bio-scanners and tried to hail James. Just as he flipped the switches and saw the readout, the blackened Arwing rolled suddenly, sending smoldering ash flying away from the craft. To everyone's amazement, the Arwing was unscathed, the armor still a beautiful silvery grey.

"You didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily, did you?" came James's voice, weak this time. "Looks like I was lucky. I barrel rolled just as I was leaving the field. I'm fine, just a bit down on shields."

"Son of a..." began Pigma, then thought the better of it. "You're too damn lucky, McCloud."

"Obviously." retorted the vulpine, kicking his engines to life. "Well, come on, I'm going to finish the twerp who thought he could shoot _me _down!"

And so it was that with a renewed heart, the Cornerians resumed the battle, even as sensors screamed the arrival of new ships in Grant 2.

* * *

Peppy suddenly ran into the recreation room. His coat tail flew behind him, and his glasses were askew. His arrival brought the party to a crashing halt as everyone stopped and stared. 

"Corneria!" he gasped. "They're under attack! That's where their capital ships went!" The rabbit looked like he was going to say more, but then he abruptly keeled over of exhaustion. An anxious Krystal ran up to check on him, even as Falco, Slippy, Fox, and Bill and Fara raced for the bridge.

Fox turned the corner before anyone else did, shouting, "ROB! Plot the fastest course to Corneria, Grant 2! Signal all other ships in the fleet to do the same!"

"Affirmative. Contacting other starships." replied ROB. Perhaps the robot realized the urgency of the situation when the rest careened around the corner, followed by Krystal, once again helping Peppy, this time with Katt's help. Star Wolf came pelting up an adjacent corridor seconds later, having just heard the news. Even as the loudspeakers blared, the Great Fox shuddered as transports rocketed from the ship's belly and headed to the Streak Bird. The Great Fox leapt into hyperspace, followed by the Cornerian Wolf and the Streak Bird. The only record they left of their passing was the great cloud of ruined parts that floated around this area of space.

* * *

"So that's what they were up to." growled Falco, slamming his paw into the conference table. The team, along with Star Wolf, were sitting around the table as well, Abbey to Falco's right, Fox to his left. Fara had left for the Streak Bird as well in a snap decision, taking her Arwing with her. "They left their fighters here for bait, then hightailed it to Corneria for an assault!" 

"But why didn't we detect them?" asked Abbey. The otter had checked the scanning logs. "And I thought Wolf said Pepper's men made a mistake!"

All eyes turned to Wolf, who held up his paws. "Hey, hey!" he began. "That's what Pepper told me. And we met with the enemy! They must've dropped the fighters out of sight, then launched past us. Traveling at light speed rather hampers observation, you know."

"He's right." said Slippy. "They could've flown right by us, and we'd never be the wiser. But I digress. We have about 4 hours before we arrive."

"There won't be anything left to shoot." grumbled Falco. "Can't this old bucket go any faster?"

"I'm sure ROB's doing the best he can." said Krystal.

"As is the ship." added Fox. "Slippy, is it safe to launch the Arwings while we're in light speed? You know, engage the LWDs?"

"I don't think it'd be a good idea to activate the limited warp drives." said Slippy. "Especially not in the hangar. We could probably do it during the retro-rocket phase, when we're coming out of it. That'll be in about 3 hours. You can use the extra speed there to gain an extra 15 minutes."

"And this is a tested solution?" asked Fox, drumming his fingers absently on the tabletop.

"Yeah, it is." answered Slippy. "I've done it myself once or twice. You just have to be careful not to slam in the planetary shields. Also," he said, turning to Falco. "The communication Peppy got is about half an hour old, and it indicated that the battle had been going on for an hour already. They'll break action to prevent fatigue. Both sides will. They'll still be plenty of things to shoot, and they're moving- sorry, the Grallians are moving to Grant 2. That'll take them awhile."

"Agreed." said Abbey. "I'll stay behind and bring the Great Fox around. The heavy guns are bound to help you in some way or another."

"Thanks." said Falco, nodding. Abbey smiled coyly. Fox turned to Krystal.

"Will you be alright?" he asked as the rest of the time continued discussing an attack plan. "We can't have you falling apart out there. It's just too risky."

Krystal slowly nodded. "I'll watch your back." she said. "I can take this. Don't worry about me. There is some evil in all parts of war."

"I know." said Fox simply. "We must simply get used to it, and move on."

The conversation drew to a close, and Star Fox and Star Wolf broke off and went their separate ways. Thus, as the third hour of combat on Corneria approached, the Grallians broke off, as did the Cornerians, who retired behind to cover of the shields for rest. The Grallians began drifting to Grant 2, while squadrons from Katina began passing through the Orbital Gate. And not too far away, the Great Fox, the Cornerian Wolf, and the Streak Bird rocketed towards Corneria, straining to reach the planet and fulfill their duties to service and nation.


	13. Crested Eagle

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Hmm, yes, I'm really thinking about releasing Black Skies: The Revised Edition sometime. Some very annoying errors keep cropping up whenever I reread my story. The revised edition will essentially be this story with some more editing done, though whether it'll ever actually come into being. 

As for late news- I have Star Fox: Adventures! It's quite a game, even if I loathe the Arwing right now. But I'm still running amok on DarkIce Mines, if anyone can help me find a few more Alpine Roots for the mammoth.

A few other notes. In case you were wondering where Star Fox went during Chapters 9 and 10, they were partying far from Corneria with jammed communications. They realized what was going on at the end of Chapter 10. The Arwing III may soon become rather obsolete, and Krystal and Fox may begin to have premonitions in their dreams.

Also, you may see a very small tribute in one of the later chapters. Just paying homage to one of my favorite minor characters I've seen for a few years. You'll have to watch to find it, and if you can tell me who it is, I'll be rather impressed.

Worked a bit on Kit-Carmack's story or whatever his name is, I can't remember it right now. Oh well, but I'd highly recommend you keep up with some of his stories, particularly his acclaimed Reflections series.

I've decided to have a Featured Bio at the end of a few chapters to help explain a few things about various characters. Until then, enjoy, and please review!

* * *

**Chapter 11 Crested Eagle**

* * *

"Attention team!" called Abbey. "We are nearing the retrofire stage! All pilots to their ships! Estimated launch time is in 5 minutes!" 

"That was short." remarked Krystal, settling into an easy stride next to Fox. The vulpine was running at a brisk pace toward the main hangar, and he nodded to the vixen.

"Be thankful for that. This is going to be a tough maneuver. Just be careful, please?"

"Alright, Fox. You know I won't take risks like that."

Fox sighed as they neared the door and slowed down. He lowered his head. "I'm a leader, Krystal. I _have _to take risks, to worry about my team. When Slippy got shot down over Titania, you don't know what I went through." He shook his head. "Possibly one of the worst moments of my life."

"Fox..." said Krystal, putting her paw upon Fox's shoulder. The vulpine shook his tail briefly and grinned slightly.

"Don't worry. That was years ago. Let's just make it out of this one alive, alright?"

"Agreed." replied Krystal, placing her paw in his. Fox punched in the pass code for the door and they entered the hangar.

* * *

"You have about 3 minutes before you've got to launch!" called Abbey again, even as most of the pilots were scrambling into their ships. "Any later, and it's not safe to pull off the maneuver, and any sooner, and we'll still be going too fast and you'll still run into the planet." 

"Thanks for the encouragement!" groused Leon. "Just what I need."

"Shut up, Leon." snapped Wolf. "We've got a tight window and your bickering isn't helping. Just hope the frog's right and we make it out of this one." The lupine then closed his cockpit, shutting off Leon's reply, then began frantically skimming through the numerous preflight checks he had to do, even as Leon shut his own canopy.

"Be careful out there, love." said Panther, speaking softly despite the ambient noise. "The Cat's Paw needs work to make it flyable, yes, and the Wolfen is a good fighter, but be wary."

"Of course, dear." said Katt offhandedly. They clasped paws for a moment, then Panther turned and leapt into his own Wolfen as Katt did likewise. Two more canopies shut simultaneously. The noise in the room was resembling that of hangars of old, where fighters had used turbine-shaft air-and-fuel engines. The whining of thrusters and engines was almost disturbing to Krystal. Her sensitive ears were taking a beating, but she still wished luck to Fox. They hugged briefly, then went to their respective Arwings, even as Falco ambled in and flew the short distance to his craft. The computers in every ship had powered up by now, and their pilots were running their diagnostic checks. Pulsing lights were everywhere in the hangar, even as Peppy's face came up over the communicator.

"Alright team, this is going to be a bit tricky. Because of the speed we're going at, we don't- _I_ don't dare sending you off on the launching track. Listen up, because this is going to be tricky. We're going to send you to the end of the launch track, then I want the Wolfens to _individually_ engage their gravity blades, lift and disconnect from the track, and launch. Then I want Fox and Slippy to detach their ships from the overhead rack _after_ engaging the G-Diffusers, then launch from there. Krystal and Falco, do the same after that. I won't lie to you, it's going to be dangerous and very difficult. It's going to make you a bit sick if you look at the stars in front, so just focus on speeding up briefly and then turn _immediately_ and brake. Got that? Be careful and watch for the jolt after launching."

"Lift locks released." hummed ROB.

"Engaging launching tracks!" shouted Abbey. All eight ships shot forwards, halting at the edge of the hangar.

"Why couldn't we have used the upper hangar?" moaned Fox.

"'cause we'd get spit out the back and slam into something." replied Slippy, even as Peppy came up again.

"Wolf, on my mark...mark!" A single Wolfen glowed green before it shot out the hangar with a flash. It seemed to move incredibly slowly once outside, but then gradually drew away and banked to the left. The command was repeated until all the Wolfens were gone, presumably slowing down and readying to engage.

"Fox, Slippy, it's your turn now. On my mark...mark!" Two silvery Arwings dropped from the rack before their G-Diffusers took hold and halted their descent. They two fired their rockets and launched from the ship, banking immediately. Krystal and Falco were not far behind, though their launch seemed faster- the Great Fox was finally slowing down, massive retro-rockets firing bright flames ahead of the ship.

* * *

"This is Wolf here, no bogies detected." 

"Leon, I'm all right."

"Panther, I am fine!"

"Katt, fine and dandy!"

"Star Fox, come in, repeat, Star Fox, come in!"

"Fox here, don't worry! We've launched safely, just make sure you're out of the way!"

"We're clear!"

"Falco and Krystal here, we've cleared the Great Fox's flight trajectory!"

"Slippy's green!"

"Literally or figuratively?" mused Falco, prompting a laugh.

"Alright, cut the chatter." ordered Fox. "I want everyone to slow down by a few more clicks. We aren't 4 from Corneria, and I don't want us to go slamming in there like idiots. We're professionals. All pilots, bank to starboard!

Narrowly missing the Great Fox as it hurtled past, the 8 pilots made a hard bank to the right, heading into one of the Cornerian Defense Zone.

"We're entering Grant 3." said Fox. "Keep an eye out for debris and other junk. Battle debris may be floating around here, and a chunk of ship's guts can prove fatal to a fighter."

"Ah, piece of cake." purred Panther. "If you cannot see by radar, let us know."

"Stow it, Panther." growled Leon. "I came up with it. Everyone, shut your eyes for a second." As they did, a canister shot from Leon's Wolfen and streaked away for a short distance before it burst, shooting rays of light everywhere. Even after the canister was gone, the light continued to shine brightly, illuminating dark-shaded wreckage nearby.

"Flares." explained Leon. "Took a devil of a long time to work, but still..."

"An ion reaction with space particles?" asked Slippy. When he received a curt nod, the toad cocked his head sideways in admiration. "Good job."

"Thanks." said Leon shortly.

"Is anyone picking anything up on radar?" asked Wolf worriedly. "I don't see any ships, or anything for that matter. Can you get ahold of ROB?"

"We're establishing a comm. link with the Great Fox, hold on..." murmured Slippy. "Got the signal locked in. ROB, got anything on long-range scanners?"

"Affirmative. 6 capital ships detected in Grant 2. Also, Cornerian vessels are hailing the ship."

"What do they want, ROB?" asked Fox, his interest piqued.

"They want us to head to Grant 2 immediately." said Peppy. "They've resumed the battle."

"Alright. Abbey, Peppy, bring the Great Fox there as fast as you can. All fighters, cut through the atmosphere and get into Grant 2. Come on, let's move!"

Dodging remnants of fighters and ships, the 8 pilots made their way to the planet surface. For a few minutes, all was red as the shields flared with the heat of reentry. But soon enough, they were passing over Corneria City to much cheering.

"Don't accept any media comm. requests." said Fox sternly. "Not now."

"Read you."

"Copy."

After another chorus of agreement was reached, the ships continued on. Streaking low over the city and waggling their wings, Star Fox and Star Wolf proceeded onwards, heading towards the colored streaks in the sky that told them of a battle.

* * *

"Nearing planetary shield perimeters." said the onboard computers. 

"Alright. Battle plan. The Streak Birds and the Cornerian Wolf aren't far behind us, so here's what we'll do. Falco, Krystal, you're with me. We're going after the capital ships. Slippy, I want you to scan everything in front of you, then join us to assist. I want to do what we did for the simulations- seal off the hangars for each ship. Avoid hitting our own at all costs. Alright, battle formation, let's move!"

Cheers of enthusiasm erupted from the Star Fox team- Star wolf flew on silently, cold, hard, and professional. The ships split as they neared the battle, Star Wolf breaking off from the rest while Star Fox did what they did best- flying against apparently insurmountable odds.

"Slippy, what's the battle assessment?"

"It looks like the Cornerians are fighting hard. They've deployed about 75 fighters and most of their capital ships, and we've got a few Dreadnought-Class ships spitting fire at the enemy, as long as ships like the Streak Bird, Saber-Class ships. My, those turrets are impressive."

"Modeled after the Cornerian Navy's old battleships, aren't they?" asked Wolf, dodging around a Grallian fighter and shooting it until it burst into flame.

"Exactly correct." said Slippy. "You really know your history, Wolf."

"Learned most of it from the Academy." replied Wolf proudly. "But enough o' that. We're in a war zone- keep your eyes to the front!"

The team flew on a bit longer before the arrival of the Great Fox caused Pepper to loudly hail the team.

"General Pepper here! Glad you came, Fox! Wolf, Fox, come link up with me. I'm point with the three new Arwings on the left bottom flank!"

"General? You? In a fighter?" asked Falco incredulously. "You're older then Peppy!"

Pepper chuckled. "Obviously, but he hasn't gotten the booster treatments I have. Peppy, if you're listening to this, I recommend it. Now hurry up. We're shooting white lasers everywhere, you can't miss us. Oh, and try and help Green Squad on the way here. Those guys are getting chopped up again."

"Affirmative, General." said Fox, leading his team to help the besieged Green Squad.

* * *

"Was that...my son?" asked James over a private channel. "Has he become a mercenary?" 

"Yes, he has." said Pepper. "Fox has grown quite strong. He recently fended off the attack of a massive Aparoid Armada- but you wouldn't know about that, would you? I'll tell you over a cup of coffee someday."

* * *

_Who's he talking to?_ wondered Fox. Although he didn't tell Pepper, the hound was speaking over the public channel. _Someone's talking to him in private. Probably one of those two ships behind him-_

"Wow." was all Krystal could say, seeing the new Arwings. 3 of them in the sky at once, spouting pearl lasers of the most beautiful hue and brilliance. Sleek and graceful in flight and shape, these truly looked the epitome of fighter technology."

"All of a sudden, this thing feels shabby." said Krystal dryly, looking around. She knew couldn't fairly say that, what with the III's beautiful upholstery and comfortable controls, but that new ship- it really looked quite something.

Even Falco was impressed. _I want to fly that bugger! _he thought enviously, pulling some tricks near the three, getting good looks at them. His azure lasers shot out again, striking another fighter and blowing it to Kingdom Come.

"Alright Fox, I have the scans!" called Slippy. "Starboard side for the first ship, lower half! Take out the hangar there! It's a sliding door, so shoot at the top and bottom to disable to rollers!"

"We hear you!" asserted Krystal. "Fox, I'm taking my runs now!"

"Falco here, I'm coming in on your left. Watch it, I'll take shots at the bottom!"

"Fox here, I'll cover you two!"

James could only watch in silent admiration and approval as he saw his son and presumably, his friends carry out the maneuvers with grace. The Arwing circling above the rest must be Fox- the two barreling at the ship, his friends. Lasers and one bomb lanced from both of the attacking fighters, and when the flash cleared, he could clearly see that the hangar doors had fused together under the incredible heat and power of the Nova Bomb.

He jerked back to reality as his ship rattled, a wide spread of laser fire striking his craft from wingtip to wingtip. He rolled and jinked downwards as another spread came at him, this time from right to left.

"Pepper, I've got some sort of machine gun or something locked on above me. Someone get rid of it!"

"Arwing II, this is Slippy Toad, I'm coming to assist."

_Slippy..._ thought James. _Where have I heard of you before?_ Then it came to him. _You were the one who tried to warn me that day! Now I owe him twice..._ Another spray of laser fire caused his ship to rattle, even as he sensed the explosion above him. A war whoop came over the comm., no longer on a private channel.

_That voice...where have I heard it before?_ thought Fox distractedly, before he saw more fighters stream from the other hangar. "Krystal, Falco, same tactics as before! Peppy, charge the main guns, fire at the hangars on any other capital ship you can find! Abbey, launch your Arwing get over here now!"

Pepper's own lasers blasted outwards, causing a multicolored flash in protest from shields. "You two, concentrate your fire right there, on the bridge! On my mark...now!"

Three sets of white lasers brutally slashed at the bridge shielding. For the safety of the ship, Grallian engineers had divided the ship into several portions, each with a separate shield generator. This would prevent a massive global failure which could bring a ship down once its armor was compromised. But this was a double-edged sword in more ways then one- it was also easier to overload certain sections of the shielding. As the lasers tore at the defenses, the generator behind the bridge overloaded and burst into flame, even as the shots ripped into the bridge itself and destroyed it, and everyone inside. Even as multiple airlock bulkheads shut around the area, the ship began to lurch and list out of control, flames streaming into the void of space. Before the backup bridge could be powered, the ship fired 5 defiant parting shots, then launched several escape pods. As some of the quicker crew members ejected, the ship, now without helm or direction, groaned, turned sideways, and smashed right into the planetary shields. The shields held- the metal did not. The ship was vaporized by the energy field almost instantly, nothing remaining of it as power was routed into the Grant 2 defenses.

"I was right, Pepper!" crowed Pigma, taking down another fighter. "With the moon nearby, these things aren't nearly as maneuverable, 'cause they don't' have G-Diffusers!"

_Who said that?_ wondered Slippy. _I've heard that person somewhere too! And how does he know that?_ The toad ran his own quick scans and found, to his consternation, that the voice was right. A bead of sweat trickled down his face unconsciously. _Leon and I are the only registered and acknowledged scanner masters around here! Those were advanced features in the submenus! What kind of pilot knew ships and scanners that well..._

"Pigma!" he shouted suddenly. And in that moment, everything fell into place for Fox, who was distracted suddenly and let his ship spin crazily for a moment.

"Dad?" he asked tentatively. Peppy tensed. He too just had realization dawn upon him. That voice- those tricks...it could only be...

_James._ The hare's paws trembled as he reached for the communications terminal.

"Fox, I'll explain later." said the voice, full of stern tones- yet warmth.

"Get your mind back on the battle!" rapped out Pepper. "Immediately! I'll explain as well, but get your mind back on what's going on _now_ before you get shot down!"

"Right, General." said Fox mechanically, shutting out everything else- his teammates' startled cries, the cacophony of battle- everything but the ships right in front of him. And in doing so, he missed a scene that would have major consequences back on the Great Fox. Even still, though, feeling swarmed through his mind, and Krystal was obliged to break off from the rest to cover her distracted friend.

* * *

"Abbey here, I'm entering the battle in the lower right hand quadrant." called the otter. Her Arwing weaved and dodged through a hail of lasers and ships, then she pulled a U-turn and shot at her former pursuers. Three went down in flames before the rest formed up to attack this powerful enemy. Abbey's ship rattled and the schematic of her Arwing began to flash in parts to indicate shield hits. 

"Dang." she whistled quietly, then barrel rolled at the right moment, sending shots screaming back at their new targets. Three more ships succumbed to this reflected fire before they barrel-rolled as well, though to much less effect, owing to their primitive G-Diffusers. The otter turned a tight circle around the fighters, noting at how much slower they seemed then the ships she'd fought earlier.

"Why are these things so slow, Slippy?"

"Planetary gravity and that of the moon's slowing them down." replied Slippy, corkscrewing and looping upwards to come behind a heavier fighter. "Keep an eye out though. Some of these fighters are essentially floating weapons platforms, and I can see anti-fighter ships, bombers, and heavy defense craft, along with some 5 and 10-man cruisers. Watch for the destroyers."

"Gotcha." said Abbey, not paying attention past the first sentence. She approached one of the heavier ship defense craft, pounding away at it with her lasers. She frowned as the shields on the opposing craft flared up, blocking her attack. The ship in front of her lumbered around in a turn and brought two powerful repeating laser cannons to bear, firing alternately to keep up a fairly steady stream of fire. The powerful bolts rocked Abbey's craft before she barrel rolled to reduce damage, firing her lasers point blank into the cannons. They struck the firing mechanism and blew the ship to pieces. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Abbey here, the heavier ships are vulnerable if you hit them in the cannons, seems to be the only place not shielded."

She continued onwards, but after shooting down more of the standard fighters, she almost unconsciously realized that she was being hard pressed by some of the more proficient fighter varieties Slippy had warned her of. The bombers were resilient and fired back with rear mounted guns, while the weapon ships fired missiles and cannons at her that she had trouble dodging. When one blew a starburst up in front of her face and a bomb behind her, she was briefly blinded, nearly flying into the offending craft before she regained control. Her heart was racing and she was suddenly afraid. She'd drifted far from her friends, and she could see strange H-shaped craft speeding towards her. She froze and shrank against her seat when these erupted in machine-gun fire, streams of red lasers headed directly at her. Panicking, she through her ship into a hard bank, even as the fire overwhelmed her port shields and sliced her wing off. Her Arwing vibrated and alarms were screaming. None of this was helping the poor otter, almost petrified with fear. She didn't dare take her paw off the control stick to alert her teammates of her plight.

Someone noticed however. "Abbey, pull up!" screamed Falco, shooting up from above. Azure lasers once again slammed into the pursuing craft, blowing several to pieces. The rest broke off the engage Falco, who jinked, corkscrewed, then with Slippy's help shot the rest down.

The battle in Grant 3 was winding down again. The fighters were retreating, but the Great Fox was now on the other side of the Grallian capital ships, and both Star Fox and Star Wolf, flying as a rearguard were obliged to retreat to it.

* * *

Fox landed first, his face streaked with perspiration. Krystal concernedly leapt out of her ship and went to his side- the vulpine still looked stunned. The vixen coaxed the fox to his quarters, but even as they went off together, Slippy landed, Star Wolf right behind him. The next to enter the hangar was Abbey's bedraggled ship, billowing smoke and shooting sparks all along its armor, much of it streaked with blaster fire. The shields flared weakly before they were shut off and Abbey, shaking, was pulled from her cockpit by Katt. Suddenly, the feline's eyes narrowed, and she retreated a bit behind Wolf, Leon, and Panther, even as Slippy shrunk back. 

Abbey, confused, looked at the hangar mouth. Unmistakably, that was Falco's Arwing connecting to the track and being tugged back in.

"He's mad." breathed Katt, and everyone still in the hangar unconsciously drew back more, leaving Abbey in front of them. There was an echoing slamming noise, and Falco's canopy shot off, the avian, clambering out. On his face was a look of pure fury. The avian marched up to Abbey, cornering her against the wall. The already shaking otter was nearly reduced to tears by the outrage that followed.

"Don't _ever_ do that again!" he screamed. "Do you realize how _far_ you were for everyone? If Slippy hadn't programmed our computers to freaking _tell_ us when others were going to die, you'd be floating out there as space dust! Don't you have any sense?"

Getting no reply from the terrified otter, Falco continued shouting, his face nearly turning red.

"Where'd you learn to fly? Keep an eye on your tail! Don't _ever_ let yourself get out of sight of at least one teammate! You nearly _died_ out there!"

Falco was breathing heavily by the time he finished. "You're coming with me." he said finally. "I'm going to drill some sense into that head of yours. Ignoring her meek protest, he pinned her arms to her sides with a loose sweater nearby and frog-marched her from the room.

"Does he always get like this?" asked Wolf, looking nervous. Slippy and Katt answered at the same time.

"Only when he's mad. Really mad. Like that." The two looked at each other with a small grin. Panther merely looked amused, though he quickly covered it.

"Rage such as that is unbefitting for a war hero such as himself. He should learn to control his temper."

"Agreed." said Wolf. "He could be like Leon here, who's got none at all." The lizard hissed at this.

"I do, but I have the sense to keep it under control." he snapped. "You, toad, if you're anywhere near as good of a mechanic as you say you are, come help me fix that otter's plane."

"Sure thing." said Slippy, and the two turned to find a toolbox while the rest retired to their rooms.

* * *

Peppy was still a bit dazed by the time Krystal let Fox up to the bridge. Abbey had been locked with Falco in the simulator room and the rest of the team were doing what they wished. Fox breathed a sigh. 

"This is all so unbelievable. Yet that was...dad."

"Yes." said Peppy tiredly. "I don't know how he did it, but James is James. Foolish as I was, I'd given up hope after all these years...suppose you never do stop learning, eh?" He chuckled.

"Fox, please, don't let yourself get distracted yet!" pleaded Krystal. "We have to break through their fleet if we want to get to Corneria, even if we sneak around the moon there, and you can't let yourself be focusing on other things!"

"Even of those things relate to my father, who I've assumed _dead_ for 11 years?" yelled Fox. The vulpine had suddenly snapped again while Krystal blubbered a bit in apology and Peppy sought to calm his younger protégé.

"Fox, she's right. Until we can organize a breakthrough with Pepper, there's not a whole lot we can do."

"Fine." spat Fox. "Contact him now then."

"I already tried-"

"Bloody contact him now! ROB, open a direct line, Priority 1!"

"Opening channel now." Pepper's worn face came up suddenly on the mainscreen.

"Yes, Fox? What can I do for you?"

"I want your forces to help us break through- and," he said, in a much softer tone, "can I please speak to my dad? Or even Pigma?"

"Sorry, Fox." said Pepper. "Pigma's still in intensive medical care. That pig's been through a lot, and I'm told that cloning, particularly Andross's way, isn't very pleasant. And your father is on the other side of the planet, on guard duty in Grant 5 and on a half publicity tour. He's being _mobbed_ by the media. As am I. He'll have time in a bit, I swear. Still, I can't promise you anything right now. Our forces are still scattered and being repaired right now, we can't help. I'll get James and Pigma ready as soon as I can and we'll fly up to help you."

"Can't we use the transporter?" inquired Fox suddenly. Pepper shook his head.

"That thing would kill you. You can't open a teleportation channel to the surface right now, the Grallians are doing something to space transmissions concerning actual _matter._ Just hold on a bit longer, Fox, please. You'll get down soon. Pepper, out!"

Even as the hound closed the link, Fox and Peppy could hear the screaming and cries of the media. They both had to grin at that.

"So...what's your father like?" asked Krystal suddenly, breaking the silence. Hare and fox stared at her for a bit, then began to fill her in on the enigmatic figure known as James McCloud, savior, hero, and martyr to the Cornerian public- and all he left behind on that fateful day, more than 11 years ago.


	14. The Battleship Royal

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: This was a rather uncharacteristically long break for me, but I felt I had to take one. What with homework stacking up and events tacking themselves onto my calendar, there certainly wasn't much time for writing. I was also waiting for Fox The Cave II to make his review, but as it is not forthcoming, I've decided to move on. 

Oh yes, I've made a few schematics of ships like the Saber-Class Battleships and the Dreadnought-Class Battlecruisers, if anyone wants to take a look. Just a bunch of rough drawings.

Sorry for being lazy. Busy, as usual. Originally, there was a bit more to this shortened chapter, but I cut it for the next.

* * *

**Chapter 12 The Battleship Royal**

* * *

"The Lylatians are more tenacious then we thought." remarked one of the Grallian Admirals. The raccoon's fingers drummed on the table as he spoke, looking over battle reports. "And they have some sort of blasted planetary shield up. We can't attack the planet directly, short of trying to break through the shields." 

"Agreed." commented another admiral, this one a lizard. "It would be about as useful as pelting a tank with rocks. We might scratch it, but we'd never get through it. Have your technicians figured out anything about it yet?"

"Speaking of that," began the raccoon, "they've discovered how the shields allow their ships in. Their shields are specially attuned to the planetary frequencies, so they can pass through. Of course, this means that unshielded ships have trouble leaving the planet. Most merchant ships probably require clearance to lift the shields."

"So it looks like this," said a third officer. "We can either wait for a convoy to come out, assuming we know exactly when and where the shields are lifted, or we can sacrifice probes or ships until we hit the right frequency."

"Both are essentially random shots." sighed the lizard. "Yet honor holds us here. I don't dare retreat. This battle fleet has never had to flee from the field of battle for decades, and as long as I stand here, I won't let it."

"You have a point, Tyron." replied the raccoon. "But while we're here, why not check the other planets in the system? Or enforce a blockade?"

"Considered," said Tyron, "but we might not have enough ships to enforce a blockade. Speaking of which, we already are, in a fashion. That battlecruiser out there, haven't you seen it yet?"

"Yes, I have." said Medrion, the raccoon. "In fact, we managed to pick up some of their news broadcasts. The ship belongs to the planet's elite mercenary team, known as 'Star Fox.' They were the ones who destroyed the fighter task force and serverely damaged the fighter capabilities of several of our capital ships. They number five right now."

"Learn more about them." ordered Tyron. "Perhaps we can discover something useful. For now, though, just keep them at bay."

* * *

"Streak Bird and Cornerian Wolf have appeared on the scopes." droned ROB. Fox's ears twitched. 

"Finally! What kept them?" he said after a moment's pause.

"They're reporting mechanical failures." observed Peppy, scanning his eyes over the logs scrolling over the screens. "They had to follow at sublight speeds. The Cornerian Wolf's computer is reporting lack of maintenance as the problem, while the Streak Bird was overstressed when they tried to follow us too quickly. Both ships will be nearby within...five minutes."

"Five." said Fox amusedly. "I'm starting to hate that number."

* * *

Krystal padded down the hallways of the Great Fox. They were clean as per usual, the ship still cleared for action. Yet despite the apparent lack of life in the halls, the thoughts he was picking up from around her told her that the ship was very much alive. She allowed herself to pry a bit, grinning at some of the errant threads appeared in her mind. 

_The wrench, you moron! Not the laser cutter!_ That was Slippy for sure. Probably with Leon, still trying to repair that wreck of an Arwing that was Abbey's.

_What's he talking about? If the cannon falls on him, see if I cry!_ Yup. Definitely Leon and Slippy, at it again.

_I suppose he needed someone to antagonize him, especially now that Andrew's disappeared._ she reflected, then cast her mind out again.

_I hate the number five._ There was Fox, in that same dry tone that his thoughts usually had. Her tail twitched, then she hastily moved on, feeling a bit embarrassed.

_Young rip._ Peppy, no doubt.

_010000011101010101000010111110100010._

_Remind me never to pry into ROB's thoughts again._ thought Krystal ruefully, rubbing her head. Then a last thought caught her unawares, and it amused her greatly.

_Who does Falco think he is, my father? Still, he's quite nice, and I do like him. If only he wasn't so protective...he's actually caring beneath that shell. Oh, what am I thinking?  
_

That thought came from the room to her right. A mischievous smile playing about her face, Krystal knocked on the door and let herself in.

* * *

"Come on in!" called Abbey, even as Krystal took a few steps into the room. It was well furnished and quite spacious, as were all the quarters on the Great Fox. Abbey herself stepped out of the attached bathroom, dressed in a white shirt with a matching scarlet jacket and knee-length skirt, the former with gold trim. Krystal looked mildly impressed. 

"From what it said on your resume- er, report, I'm surprised you've still got your flight uniform."

"Oh yes!" replied Abbey empathetically. "I always liked wearing this. It's comfortable and it looks nice."

"Matches your fur." said Krystal approvingly. "You look sharp. Off to impress Falco?" Krystal almost beamed as Abbey dropped the cap she'd been twirling.

"Wh-what?" she finally stammered, bending down to pick up the hat. Krystal noted that her face nearly matched her jacket, and she laughed.

"Sorry," she began, sitting down on one of the chairs. Her laughter was making her feel weak, and she needed the support. "I'm...a telepath," she gasped out between the chuckles. "Sorry 'bout that." Abbey still looked mortified.

"Don't tell him, please!" She looked somewhat desperate, but also relieved when Krystal nodded.

"I won't. Don't forget, I'm only about three years your senior. No worries there."

"Still chasing Fox?" asked Abbey slyly, flipping the tables son the vixen.

"I set myself up for that." she replied ruefully. Abbey laughed, not stopping when Krystal mock-glared at her. "Well, enough of that. I'm still older and your senior here on the team, and I'm ordering you to go make things right with Falco- _after_ you help fix up that beat-up thing you call an Arwing."

"Alright, alright." grumbled the otter before getting up and hurling a nearby cushion into the startled vixen's face. Before Krystal managed to recover, she was already out the door, merry strings of laughter floating behind her.

* * *

"This is hopeless." said Leon, throwing his wrench over his head in dismay. "We'd need four more paws to fix this dump. Wolfens actually have interior scaffolding to keep the parts from falling off- like this!" he screamed as a cylindrical object fell on his footpaw. Slippy looked at him levelly in disdain. 

"Oh grow up, I've had worse." he said shortly. "This thing has that scaffolding too, except if you haven't noticed its been blasted all around Corneria, and twice more while it was at it. Oh, and here are your four extra paws." The toad pointed at the doorway as Krystal and Abbey walked in. Krystal threw herself to the ground suddenly and put her paws over her ears as the wrench Leon had thrown finally came down, hitting the wall and ricocheting with a clang.

"What is going on in here?" asked Abbey, her eyes wide as an indignant Krystal picked herself up off the ground.

"Sorry." smirked Leon. Krystal looked outraged.

"I nearly get hit in the head by a wrench and you can just say 'sorry?'" she shrieked, her temper finally snapping as she picked up another tool and threw it at Leon. For the second time in that many minutes, two more beasts threw themselves to the floor behind crates and spare parts as wrenches flew.

"Enough!" yelled Slippy finally, sticking out his cap and catching one of the tools, then catching the other one in quick succession. "How about we stop being _kindergarteners_ and get this thing _fixed!_ Krystal, I don't believe this!"

"Speak for yourself," muttered Abbey upon hearing Toad's 'kindergartener' comment, but she also drew herself up again. Krystal looked sheepish- Leon had a blank look about him. He finally turned and retrieved another wrench.

"Fine, fine." he said dismissively. Slippy shook his head and gestured at the two girls.

"C'mon, lend a hand. We need you two to keep an eye on the crane and hold the wing steady while I connect the wires, then fuse and rivet the wing on."

"Right," said Abbey, moving to the crane and studying it, then lowering the wing about an inch more. "Helping?"

"Much." replied the short amphibian, reaching up from his stool with a insulation sprayer while Krystal held the wing.

"How long is this going to take?" she inquired.

"Fin wire, shield wire, indicator wire..." continued the toad. Krystal shook her head in resignation as Abbey joined her on the wing.

"He's gonna be at this for hours." she groaned. Abbey tilted her head wonderingly.

"How does he know all that?" she marveled, listening to Slippy who was still rattling off wire connections and functions. Leon was reconnecting damaged cannon systems on the other side, sparks eliciting curses from the lizard every so often.

"I don't know." replied Krystal. "He's been with the team since the original one was destroyed. Probably picked up all that knowledge over time."

"Or he's a natural." added Abbey. "If the original Lylat Wars were eight years ago, how old was Fox then?"

Krystal chewed her lip. "I get the feeling that Fox may have lied about his age to get into the Advanced Academy. Peppy no doubt helped him do that. I honestly think he was just a shade under 18."

"Young." whistled Abbey. "I couldn't do half of what he did."

"He's one out of a thousand." replied Krystal dreamily. "And he's a crack shot on the ground as well. Like on Sauria-"

Krystal never got the chance to finish her sentence as the hangar suddenly flashed with lights, alarms blaring wildly as the ship shook.

* * *

"We're under attack!" announced Peppy. "All fighters, scramble immediately!" The several doors leading into the hangar opened together minutes later, pilots rushing into the room with more urgency than the last time. Slippy dropped all his tools and leapt into his fighter after a fast climb, while Leon and his fellow team members, including Katt now went to their fighters. Abbey debated her position- but as Peppy announced the size of their attackers, she in turn leapt into the nearest Arwing- Fox's. Each craft launched independently as the ship lurched again. Abbey was in space again.

* * *

Fox ran into the deserted hangar seconds later, having been thrown off his paws by one of the hits of the ship. He scanned the hangar in disbelief, not comprehending that someone would take his Arwing. _His_ Arwing. 

"You've got to be joking me." he said to himself, looking at the last remaining Arwing in the hangar. One wing was still attached to the crane, held to the ship only be a tangle of wires. Sparks still shot from it occasionally.

"And there's no way I'm flying in _that._" he said disgustedly, trooping back up to the bridge in a rage.

* * *

"Fox? What happened?" asked Peppy, seeing the furious vulpine stalk into the room and throw himself into the pilot's chair. 

"Abbey took off with my plane." he said shortly. He looked out the windshields at the fighters zooming around them.

"There's naught to be done about it now." offered Peppy. "If you didn't make it down in time, then someone had to launch. The ship's shields would've been destroyed otherwise."

"Give it a rest." snapped Fox, studying the controls in front of him. "By the Creator, I don't understand how you, or that _otter_ runs this thing."

He found the commlink and activated it. By then, the cool reason that made him famous in battle had calmed him. It still didn't stop him from making an unnecessary signal- "Abbey, one scratch on my ship and I'm going to lock you in a cell, y'hear?"

"Got it." she said. Fox had to grin at the ludicrous expressions on his teammates faces, then shut his ears as they all started to jabber into the system, apparently having just realized that it wasn't Fox in the cockpit. Of those dissenting voices, none were stronger then Wolf and Falco.

"Young pup, what are you doing in there? You won't do any good in this kind of action!"

"He's right!" shot Falco, making a pass in front of Abbey. "Get back in the hangar and on the bridge where you belong! We need Fox up here right now!"

Abbey was chewing her lip and was about to make a reply when she choked up.

_Am I really that bad?_ she thought, and she was about to try a second time when Fox intervened.

"Guys, there's not enough time for this! Lay off her, and get your minds on the fight ahead! I'm going to use this attack to try and break through to Corneria. You guys, tell the Streak Birds where I've gone, and guard the Cornerian Wolf at all costs!"

After a chorus of agreement came from the team, Fox turned to Peppy. "It's all yours, old timer." The hare shook his grey head.

"Come now, you can fly this bird. Now, listen to me carefully. Those sliders control the shield distribution, and that's the throttles. The main computer screen will display..."

As Peppy continued the lecture, the Star Fox team, usually the model of efficiency broke apart into separate, desperate dogfights with the determined pilots of Grall, seeking to cripple or destroy the mothership.

* * *

"Makes you wonder," said a strained Falco "why we didn't try and break through with just our fighters." 

"Dunno." said Slippy, pulling an tight roll. His ship vibrated as he continued, "But we're here now, so get over it."

"How're you holding up, Abbey?" asked Krystal, pulling her own loop over one of the four wings and destroying a fighter with her lasers. She barrel rolled to the right as similarly powered lasers hit her own craft, reducing the shields and causing the wing indicators on the right side to flash red.

"I'm fine!" shouted the otter. She almost seemed to perform better under this kind of stress, and Fox's Arwing jumped under her controls, spinning with precision and grace. Although Abbey realized what she was doing wasn't entirely right, she couldn't help but admire how well Fox kept his craft, and the heroism imbued in the ship was infecting her with a sense of exhilaration.

* * *

"ROB, Peppy, hold down the fort. Don't change course unless it's to fire the guns. Keep the engines on full and swing over the moon. I'm going to man the right point-defense laser." 

"Be careful, Fox!" warned Peppy as the vulpine left the bridge. "That turret's not properly shielded! Best of luck!"

"Good luck." said ROB monotonously, already performing his allotted tasks. The engines on the Great Fox flared bright as the ship drove through space, fighters clinging to it like a cloud of flies.

* * *

"Bah, this is disorienting me." said Falco. "Ship's moving, fighters are moving- it's going to make me dizzy." 

"Come now, the great Falco Lombardi afraid of this?" said Slippy, coolly dispatching another pilot. "Just keep your nose pointed at Corneria, as _that's_ not moving."

"Gee, thanks." said Falco sarcastically, looping and rolling to avoid another slew of fire. There was a sudden blast of fire on his right side, then a shower of sparks on his left. "Dang it! My hyper lasers have gone offline! Looks like one of them's burned out and the other's toast!"

"Falco, override Safety 5 from the computer screen!" yelled Slippy. "Then override 3 to activate your nose blaster! You'll at least have that and your left hyper!"

"I thought the circuitry's burned out!" the avian screamed back. "I'm still drifting here with no guns, hello?" To prove his point, a fighter danced in front of him, taunting him. Angrily, Falco vaporized it with a Nova Bomb.

"Just do it! You'll activate the emergency cooling units that way, and they should come online again!"

"If this breaks like it did in the Academy, I'm going to roast you!" The falcon flipped the switch, listening worriedly to the whine of the engine behind him as the Great Fox barreled ahead, filling his viewscreen. The systems on his ship suddenly failed, and he let loose a roar of rage as Abbey soared towards him to cover as fighters from all around converged on the lame ship.

"Slippy, I'm going to-" he began when his shields flared suddenly, everything coming back online in a spectacular flash of light. Shots reflected off the craft as the shields blazed with a bright light. "What the-?"

"Just shoot, Falco!" yelled Abbey, banking hard to avoid being blinded as she fired at two more craft. As she spoke, a green and azure laser erupted from two of Falco's guns.

"Holy moly, it worked!" he shouted triumphantly. "Slippy, you're a genius!"

_What am I supposed to say to that?_ thought the toad dryly. He banked to avoid the red point-defense lasers streaking from the point-defense rotational turret, nestled against the hull of the Great Fox between two of the wings. The other remained silent, but this one was still spitting fire.

* * *

Fox grappled with the unfamiliar controls. He had made it a point to become proficient in every field that the new Great Fox had to offer, but he'd somehow missed these two. _What an oversight! Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ He tugged hard on the right handle and the turret turned, his lasers lancing out and vaporizing a passing fighter. _Oh. That's how you do it. So there isn't a fancy trick, it's actually just something that works like you THINK it would!_

Know knowing how to operate this piece of machinery, Fox rolled the turret to the left and fired, hampered only slightly by the wings above and below him. _So this thing has another use, besides as a window._


	15. Noble Aspirations

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: This is the first time I've actually begun writing without waiting for the reviews, and it might suffer consequently. In case any of you were wondering about the title of the previous chapter, Battleship Royal, it has to do with events in this chapter. Of course, being a battle cruiser, the Great Fox possesses thinner armor and weaker shielding then any proper battleship. Despite its considerable speed, it still isn't too maneuverable, and thus, it needs ground support. When Fox makes his bid for the planet, lives may be lost in the process. The question is, who's? 

Sorry that James and some of the others rather fade out here. Understand that there is a martyr in this chapter, and I wish to do him full glory and justice.

Also, I'm rather glad that someone approved of the Falco and Abbey pairing! Unfortunately, there isn't much of it in here. Read on!

* * *

**Chapter 13 Noble Aspirations**

* * *

The Grallian lizard sat back, his eyes watching the Cornerian news broadcast. The camera was centered on a fine looking general, who seemed to be conquering his age with technology that was on par with that of the best Grallian doctors. He was speaking proudly and the officers behind him were smiling. 

_"We must once again tribute our success to the Star Fox team. Many of you doubtless heard the earlier reports. I am here to __verify them. James McCloud and his colleague, Pigma Dengar are indeed alive. The former is on guard duty in Grant 5, while the latter is currently recovering in the hospital. Both of these esteemed pilots joined us in the battle for our freedom, and both proved themselves well. They are truly some of the best pilots we have seen for decades."_

_"Is it true that you yourself took point?" asked a reporter._

_"Yes, indeed, I flew a combat mission, my first in about 15 years." answered Pepper with a nod. "Next question."_

_"Are the members of the current Star Fox team available for comment?"_

_"I am afraid not. They recently destroyed a Grallian task force, and are now held at bay by a blockade force. They joined the battle in Grant 2 and saved many of our pilots by sealing the hangar doors of the Grallian capital ships. Next?"_

_"As General, you have commanded our troops through three wars. When do you think that our esteemed defenders, the Star Fox team, will suffer a casualty?"_

_"At this time, I cannot answer the question. I have placed my faith and trust in James's son. The five members of the current team have done much to save the Lylat System, and it is my firm opinion that not one will die in combat. Next question, please..."_

The lizard watched as Pepper fielded several more questions while a shorter toad besides him adjusted his glasses, answering many of the technical questions that came up. While this person did an extremely good job of blocking every useful detail of the prototype fighters, the admiral did gather its name- the Arwing, a space-superiority fighter with limited underwater capabilities and exceptional atmospheric flight capabilities. Then, something happened which he did not expect, something which had not happened in the many times when _he_ himself had done press interviews. An aide stepped up and whispered to Pepper. The camera zoomed up on them both and caught Pepper's alarmed expression before the hound masked it almost instantly.

"I am sorry, but I must cut this meeting short. I will continue this conference tomorrow. Good day, gentlemen." So saying, he was rushed into a nearby transport and sped off, the camera tracking him until he was out of sight. It panned over to the reporter again, but the admiral paid no attention. What could have caused the Cornerian general to dash off like that? Hardly befitting for one of his rank...

It clicked suddenly and he sprang from his chair. "Lieutenant!" he barked. "Give me the status reports on the attack on the Star Fox team!"

"Sir, they have launched eight fighters from their mothership, and it is now turning towards Corneria. One of the point-defense lasers is activ-"

"Fool!" thundered the admiral. "Bring all our ships to bear, block that cruiser! Do _not_ allow it to reach Corneria at all costs, even if it means ramming!"

"Y-yes sir!" cried the lieutenant, saluting stiffly. He rushed off to tell the ship's captain, who in turn broadcasted the message to the fleet. Nearly a score of battleships and a multitude of carriers, destroyers, large cruisers, and interception vehicles and fighters wheeled with precision and moved to intercept the Great Fox in its bid for safety.

* * *

"What forces do we have that can launch immediately?" inquired Pepper, striding briskly down the hall. Two secretaries and an admiral and aide were by his sides as they made for the control room. 

"Sir, we have four ships that can launch immediately and one fighter squadron. The destroyers _Hound_ and _Seperath_, the Dreadnought-Class battle cruiser _Alheon_, and the Saber-Class battleship _Royal_ are also ready."

"I want all four ships to be launched immediately. Which can pass through the planetary shields first?"

"The Royal, sir!"

"Will it have its shields up by then?"

"At maximum velocity, it will not, sir!"

"Scramble Blue, Gold, and Green Squads immediately. Tell them to make for Section 4-B. Direct all four ships to that area and raise the shields there! I want those fighters positioned to intercept any fighters attempting to breach the shields! You!" he called over his shoulder. "What is the status of Pigma Dengar?"

"He is well enough to fly a combat mission, sir!"

"Scramble him immediately! I want James McCloud on this side of the planet within ten minutes to defend the Great Fox! Do we have the Streak Bird and Cornerian Wolf on scopes?"

"Yes sir! The Streak Bird is preparing to launch fighters! They have sighted the Great Fox and its attempt to break through, and are attempting to breach as well! They are making for Grant 3!"

"Get Red and Yellow Squads to cover them. Can the Cornerian Wolf do a sub-light jump into the atmosphere?"

"It can, sir!"

"Order the computer to do so. I want that thing in our reach before any other ship. Come on, get to it!"

The foursome entered the massive control room, screens everywhere full of data and live feeds. The largest one showed the awe-inspiring Royal, retro-rockets already firing as the ship pointed its bow to the sky, then fired its engines. An ion-flame discharge streamed from the three reticules, and the ship lurched forward and sped away. All screens changed abruptly to show the battleship in the sky, making its way towards the shields.

* * *

The Saber-Class Battleships were something of a hodgepodge assembly of parts. They were state-of-the-art craft, with almost ten-inch armor and with Grade A50 shielding. Their design, however, was rooted in tradition. The Navy had insisted, and the Board of Battleship Design had not demurred- in fact, they had approved it with a unanimous vote. This ship was shaped exactly like the Navy's sea-going battleships, with the exception of the three massive ion-flame engines in the back and the two large wings protruding from the ship's center, with their ion-discharge engines. The ship mounted many guns in forward, aft, and waist turrets which could fire powerful lasers and Nova Bombs. The latter was another thing similar to the Navy, which used the bombs without propulsion. Equipped with three hangars, a battleship-style central bridge and rear command post, and bristling with anti-aircraft and point-defense turrets, it also had missile launchers, two plasma cannon arrays, and three smoke maskers for atmospheric and space cover. Finally, it had the two impressive focal lasers on the bow and stern, great things which charged from two devices on the ship's sides and fired an incredibly powerful laser beam that could be directed anywhere in its scope. Truly, it was a ship that could hold the public's mind.

* * *

As the Royal streaked upwards, the Hound and Seperath also launched, with the battle cruiser Alheon and their fighter compliment following. The shields in the area flashed- and a swarm of Grallian fighters poured in. The Royal's guns cut them to mincemeat before the other ships even got in range. 

"Keep her steady." ordered captain Therald of the Royal. "Make for the portal at top speed. Swing all turrets that are able to bear on our starboard side."

"All turrets turning! What of the mortar guns and the port waist turrets?"

"All mortars that are able to bear on the enemy are to turn as well! Waist guns are to aim for their respective sides. I want the port waist guns to prevent flanking. Deploy the fighter compliment as soon as we clear the shields."

"Shield clearance will be in ten seconds and counting!"

"Engine pressure steady!"

"Core is stable!"

"Shields are at 50 percent!"

"Armor integrity is intact!"

"All guns in firing condition! No anomalies detected!"

"Shield clearance...now!"

Therald's mind wrapped itself around the calls of his officers. He looked around the bridge, with its massive array of terminals and consoles, an officer sitting at each one while other ranking crew members stood by the windshields. He himself stood at a pedestal in the room's center, gazing out in front of the ship, as well as at the viewscreens surrounding the room.

"Are the shields up yet?"

"Yes sir! All shields are at 100 percent, and are calibrated to resist Nova Bombs!"

"Very good. All turrets able to bear on starboard are to fire laser shot now!"

"Turrets firing!" yelled an officer, then all of the lower ranking officers covered their ears as the ship shook from bow to stern as the massive turrets fired their charges. Azure lasers, fully two feet in diameter sparked from the main guns. The yard-wide red shot from the mortars streaked after them. Therald turned automatically to the shot assessment officer.

"Three hits reported on the nearest capital ship, sir! Four more hits on various ships beyond it!"

"Adjust trajectories and fire again!"

"Turrets firing!"

Again, there was that massive roar of sound as the guns of the Royal boomed out once more. This time, the nearest Grallian capital ship's shields flared a brilliant red, illuminating the entire bridge with the scarlet hue.

"All turrets go to rapid independent for 30 seconds!" rapped out Therald.

"All turrets at rapid-independent!" replied the gunnery officer. The ship's shaking turned into a constant vibration as each gun fired by itself, shots arcing from the ship in a near constant stream of fire.

"All shots hit!" shouted the shot assessment officer.

"Fire a salvo- shot is to be Nova Bombs! Fire in three seconds- mark!"

"Guns firing!" This time, the ship's shaking was markedly milder, as over a score of Nova Bombs soared at the enemy. The shells flashed blue as they followed their trajectory- then there was brilliant flash. About ten seconds later, debris began pelting the Royal.

"It's not over yet." said Therald grimly to the unspoken question. The shot assessment officer wearily agreed. Out of the debris cloud flew the Grallian capital ship, most of its side missing and its shields gone, but still flying with her engines and guns intact.

"All turrets rapid independent." ordered Therald for the second time. The confirmation was sounded, and the ship again shook to the random firing of the guns. The Grallian could take little more of this barrage and it blew up suddenly, sweeping several escape pods that had been jettisoned into deep space.

The crew on the bridge were congratulating themselves when the ship shook and the shields flared. Therald looked out. Several of the capital ships were now bringing their main weapons to bear. The fighters, the intercept vehicles and even the heavy weapons crafts were hammering away uselessly at the Royal's shields, but the larger blasts from the forward-mounted cannons of the enemy were doing significant damage.

"Shields at 78 percent, sir!" called the damage control officer. "Concussive damage has been done to three of the point-defense lasers!"

"Adjust trajectory seven degrees to starboard, five degrees up!" said Therald. The ship began to tilt up and to the right, and as it settled on its new course, Therald ordered, "Bring the forward smoke masks online, and open fire with the focal laser! All forward turrets able to bear on the enemy are to fire Nova Bombs and lasers! All rear turrets and guns unable to bear on the enemy are to assume rapid independent fire on any target!"

"Orders relayed, sir!"

"Focal laser charging! Estimated firing time is five seconds!" These moments ticked by slowly, then the front five yards on both sides of the bow's point glowed, traced by a red line. The red lines met at the ship's prow, then a brilliant magenta laser streamed from the meeting point, slamming into the ship firing on them with deadly force. Hit almost simultaneously with a barrage of bombs and lasers, the ship heeled over and fled, smoke pouring from internal fires.

"Let her go." began Therald when the enemy battleship blew up. Far behind it was the Great Fox, her signature plasma bolts streaking from her guns. The Royal's plasma cannons streamed their blue rays back in reply, these lancing at another ship and damaging it, even as similar plasma bolts came from the Alheon and the destroyers began firing their missiles and small guns.

* * *

"Sir!" said a Grallian officer. "The enemy has brought to bear many more guns then we can, sir! Their ships appear to be based off of sea battleships, and thus mount more guns then many of our fleet!" 

"Bring the Thire around. Open fire with our broadside batteries! Let's show them a full Grallian salvo!"

"Batteries firing!"

The crew on the Royal was cheering for yet another victory when the Thire's salvo struck them. The ship heeled over almost 30 degrees, then righted itself.

"Concussive damage to the starboard engine and the forward turret is temporarily disabled!" reported the control officer in dismay. "Shields are at 64 percent, and only 40 percent of our point-defense lasers are operational, sir!"

"Lay a smoke cover and launch all fighters! All turrets operational, bear on the enemy flagship!"

"Turrets trained and firing!" The damaged Royal once again reverberated to the crescendo of gunfire as the order was passed from ship to ship. All four craft of the initial attack trained their fire upon the Thire as Cornerian reinforcements came from behind. Two silvery Arwings were far in the back, but growing closer every second. These, along with the two Arwings crashed into another flank of the enemy as the Great Fox came closer with each passing moment.

* * *

Peppy blinked. He hadn't been expecting help. _Just another thing that escapes my fuzzy grey head,_ he decided reluctantly, then hailed the battleship ahead. 

"Cornerian Battleship, this is the Great Fox."

"Great Fox, this is Captain Therald of the Battleship Royal. Please make a turn to starboard to keep our A-arcs open. We will cover your descent to the planet."

"Noted. Thank you."

"Good luck."

_Now why would he say that?_ wondered Peppy, closing the communications. His paws shook slightly and nudged the control stick, sending the Great Fox in the wrong direction.

"Oh no you don't." he muttered, wrestling with the controls as ROB stood by, monitoring engine functions and cabin pressure, along with numerous other things. He was obviously too busy to notice the very old hare having problems with the steering yoke.

* * *

_He's throwing off my aim..._ groused Fox as the ship shuddered again from its high-speed course change. "How are you guys holding up?" he asked of the team at large. 

"Abbey here, shields at 90."

"Falco here, my port hyper laser is offline but otherwise fine. I'm at 97 percent shields."

"Slippy here, 70 percent shields, all other systems operational."

"Krystal here, my shields are fine but my boosters are overheating."

"Alright guys, keep it together here!" called Fox encouragingly, swinging the turret around and opening fire. A stream of lasers flew from the gun muzzle and hit several ships, two of these erupting in flame. "We're about a quarter of the way there!"

"Fox!" called Slippy. "Streak Birds are here to cover us! The Streak Bird and Cornerian Wolf are flanking far to Starboard, though the Streak Bird's still firing her A-arcs!"

"Peppy, did you hear that? Bring the ship up some- I don't want to be in the way of the 'Bird's broadside!"

"Having a bit of trouble up here, Fox, but will do!" replied Peppy, bringing the ship up further. A stream of fire from the Streak Bird's turrets grazed the ship's bottom and continued onwards.

"Bill here, hold together guys!"

"Fara here, coming in to your right!"

Within seconds, the cloud of fighters around the Great Fox began to dissipate as the advanced Lerowing Vs of the Streak Birds flew in, along with the aging Mark 1 Arwing that was Fara's. The fennec came in behind Krystal, smoothly blasting away a pursuer.

"Thanks." said Krystal shakily, peeling away to her left and flipping around another craft.

"Welcome." said Fara warmly, suddenly making an ungracious 50 degree roll to port to avoid a collision. "What is this? A suicide squad?"

"Their honor appears to mean a lot to these pilots." said Krystal.

"It'd explain why they're trying to ram now." affirmed Bill. "They want to go out doing the best they can. Cover Great Fox, I don't want any more of their birds crashing into the old girl."

"Technically, she's a new one." said Fox, swinging his turret around again and locking in Bill and Fara's ships as friendly, along with those of the Streak Birds. "But nice to see you, Bill."

"Same here, partner. Our main warp drive failed on us when we tried to boot it up so quickly. Didn't take kindly to it. Sorry for the delay, but we're here now, and that's what matters."

"Nice to have a few more wings." said Falco appreciatively. "Even though we could handle this by ourselves."

"Speak for yourself." muttered Katt, the first transmission from a Wolfen thus far. "Shields falling below 50, guys. I need some cover here."

"Panther here, I'm still fresh. I'm coming around your port quarter, Katt, dodge to the left so I can shoot." Katt complied, and a pursuer was blasted to pieces.

"Wolf here, something's not right with my bottom right Gravity Blade, but I'll live." said the lupine shortly. "I've lost about 10 percent of my maneuverability and speed though."

"Leon here, Wolf, try routing some of the power in your upper G-Blade into the failing one."

"I'll try it." A few moments later, Wolf's head reappeared. "No-go. The wing's nonresponsive. Don't worry, as I said, I'll live."

Wolf jinked upwards, came out of a stall, and then opened fire with a charge shot. The compact ball of energy sailed from his gun muzzle into an enemy ship. This one too succumbed to the laser fire of the two teams. Scratch one bogey, as Falco would say.

* * *

"Engine shields are failing." reported the damage control officer grimly. Therald sighed. 

"The break through is taking far longer then I thought it would. Shield status?"

"Shields are globally at 35 percent." Therald paused. He looked at the massive presence of the Thire. Its entire side was festooned with flashes of light as its broadside cannons fired. Time and time again, the ship shuddered and vibrated as it was hit. The shields were losing power, falling below the 23 percent line, the line at which it was standard to abort the mission. Therald made his choice. He looked back at Corneria, and then in an even voice, he seized the microphone and spoke two words into it.

"Abandon ship."

"Sir, what-?" began one of the officers, but Therald glared at him.

"All hands abandon ship!" he boomed. "Proceed to your evacuation stations." The hound turned to the officers, staring at him in shock. "We have ventured too far from the planetary shields to have any hope of making them in time. Judging by our sudden loss of speed, I can only assume that the port and starboard engines are giving out." The ship rattled again, and an alarm blared. The engine shields had now failed.

"Concussive damage throughout the ship is heavy." he continued. "I want every crewman off this ship before the evacuation systems go offline."

"But sir, won't the enemy attempt to capture the ship once we've ejected?"

"You leave that to me." snapped Therald. "All of you, go, immediately! I will follow after destroying the ship's papers. Come on, go!" Many of the crew members leapt to it, scurrying from the bridge. The damage-control officer stayed at the doorway. His face was resolved, but sad.

"You have no intentions of leaving." he said. It was not a question, more of a statement.

"Indeed, I have none." replied Therald. "I value the lives of my crew above that of my own- and of my ship. If I were to abandon ship after destroying the papers, I would still be proclaimed a coward. No, sir, leave now. I alone hold the rights to my life."

The officer shook his head, then fled from the room, a tear forming in one eye. Therald sternly turned back to his pedestal and walked to it stiffly. _What have I done?_ he wondered as the ship shuddered again. Then it shook ever so slightly- an escape cruiser had launched. He turned around. There were fighters now streaming from the hangar, cruisers and escape pods following them. His face was grave now as a communications channel opened.

"Cornerian captain, we see you are evacuating your ship. If you surrender the craft and disembark as well, we will allow you to leave. Upon our honor."

"Dear admiral, as a ranking officer yourself, you should know that I am honor-bound to refuse your offer. I will not leave this ship until it or I have both fallen together, and then only in spirit."

"I admire your bravery. Farewell then, for the last time." replied the Grallian Admiral. The raccoon's face was set and blank. There was no look of joy on that face, only one of understanding and respect. The communications line was terminated, and the Royal again shook as it was hit again and again.

"Computer." said Therald clearly. After receiving the acknowledging beep, he nodded slowly. "Adjust course, ten degrees up, three degrees port. All guns to bear on the ship's starboard side, Target A."

"Acknowledged." said the computer. The ship's guns slowly swung to the right, the A-arc open.

"Open fire. Salvo type, lasers."

"Ship firing." replied the computer. The guns fired together, the ship heeling slightly with the force of the blasts. These shots petered against the Thire's shielding.

"Computer, open fire, rapid independent. Shot type, Nova Bombs."

"Acknowledged. Ship firing." The shaking of the ship lessened as a curtain of blue-flashing Nova shells made their way through space and blew up against the Thire's shielding.

"What in the devil is going on here?" asked the captain of the Alheon. He hailed the Royal, but received no response. "Direct the forward plasma bolts at the enemy flagship!"

"No..." breathed Peppy silently. He recognized the movement patterns. The ship was being run through a computer. That could only mean one thing for the captain.

Therald closed his eyes as the computer droned on. "All engines failing. Maximum speed is 20 percent of optimal velocity."

"Computer, use remaining power to adjust course 90 degrees starboard, 1 degree down. Shift shield power to the bow and fire all turrets able at Target A. Fire focal lasers."

"Commands acknowledged." chirped the computer softly. The ship made a hard turn on its remaining engines and reinforced the forward shields. Driving slowly towards the Thire, it opened fire with its powerful focal laser and its other guns. Smoke poured from the ship as the defenses were overwhelmed and the armor began taking hits.

"Turret B and Mortar A are offline. Waist Turret 1 is offline. Breach in Bow Sector 4."

"Breach in Bow Section 2."

"Turret A is offline."

"Central engine is offline."

"Ship is uncontrollable."

"Fire all rear turrets in rapid-independent mode at all local targets." said Therald solemnly. He placed one paw over his heart and saluted the Cornerian flag that hung in a corner. "This is how I go." he said quiet. _I'm sorry, father. I will never reach your hopes, rank, or dreams. Goodbye. _

The ship yawed slowly to the right as the shock from firing the rear turrets overcame its inertia. Therald saw the laser streaking towards the room. It projected green light into the room before slamming into the column below the bridge. Therald was killed instantly as the cabin depressurized. For one brief moment, the flames of the explosion outlined the words "Therald Pepper, Captain" on the hound's nametag before he fell to the floor, the lights on the consoles around him going out one by one in flashes of light and sound.

* * *

Fox banged on the lift doors as the elevator inched upwards with agonizing reluctance. When it reached the bridge, the vulpine slipped through the doors sideways and ran to Peppy's side, looking through the windshield and viewscreens. 

"ROB, increase the magnification of screen two!" he called. The image grew larger to reflect what was transpiring before the Great Fox. There was the Royal, flames pouring from her bridge and from multiple points on the ship. The rear turrets were still firing automatically, but there was no one at the rear command post, and the bridge was a twisted wreck. One by one, the rear guns jammed or overheated. Three last shells were fired in defiance before the ship blew up in a thunderclap.

Fox's jaw tightened. His paws clenched, and he asked slowly, "Look up the logs for that ship, Peppy. Who was its commanding officer?" The vulpine knew the answer, almost before Peppy said it.

"Your year mate, Therald Pepper."

* * *

_I'm sorry, father. I will never reach your hopes, rank, or dreams. Goodbye._

Krystal was startled by the strength of the thought- a seemingly final plea for peace. Peace with someone's father. Her heart beat quicker for several moments, then raced when she cast her mind out once more.

Silence. The voice was gone. She was going to open the commlink and ask what was wrong when she brushed a button by mistake. Fox, Bill, and Fara showed up onscreen together. Apparently, this was a private channel.

* * *

"Poor man." said Fara sympathetically. Bill shook his head. 

"A terrible shock for the dear old General. That makes the second of his children to go."

"Yes." said Fox. His own voice was shaking. "The first, his eldest, died at Sector Y. We arrived too late to save the capital ship, and we only learned of the death later. And now...I don't know. He only has his daughter now. What with the strains of running a war, I'm afraid he'll go off the deep end."

"Somehow, I doubt that." said Fara in an unconvinced tone. "His kids knew the risks, and he must've too. He handled the Lylat War well, even after his first born died."

"And he was in a mental institution for the next few weeks after the peace was declared." interrupted Bill. "Fox's right. We need to keep an eye on Pepper for awhile. Who knows what damage he could do?"

"Mm-hmm." said Fox slowly. "We're nearing the debris field." The vulpine switched his commlink to the public channel. "Star Fox and Star Wolf, form up. We're entering the debris field. Stand by to enter the planet." He was greeted with silence. Most of his team, having grown up with him knew Therald Pepper. They had all been good friends. But there was nothing to say now. Mourning must come later.

* * *

James rolled his Arwing through a tight space between two capital ships. As the teal field surrounded him, a heavy laser ricocheted off the ship and slammed back into the gun. Sparks shot from it and it began to billow smoke. 

"Much better than the Mark 1." remarked James, speeding away. "And I doubt that gun will be firing again anytime soon."

"Maybe not, James, but keep on your toes." said Pigma shortly. "Scanners are going nuts here."

"Enemy numbers?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"Joy. Hey, the other ships are falling back- Pigma, fall in after me!" James's Arwing flipped vertically and slid downwards, Pigma trailing after it.

* * *

"Leon, fire a flare!" ordered Wolf sharply. The wanted canister flew from Leon's Wolfen and exploded, illuminating the nearby area with a sparkling light. 

"As much as I hate to admit it, those things are useful." said Falco grudgingly, looping around abbey and shooting at a previously unseen fighter. The machine guns on it fired back, and Falco was forced into a near continuous roll to avoid most of the lasers. Finally, the offending craft exploded. Abbey whooped along with Katt, who had pulled a similar maneuver, albeit around Panther.

"Hey, Fox? How much longer do we have to do this?" asked Slippy. Silence. "Hey, Fox? How much longer?" No response.

"He's not going to respond." said Krystal quietly. It suddenly seemed that everyone was looking at her. The silence seemed deafening. Even the laser fire of the enemy was abating. "You'll find out when we get back to Corneria." she said simply, unable to bring herself to acknowledge what she'd heard. To cover for her obvious discomfort, she added, "It looks like the Grallians are falling back and the Cornerians are doing it as well. We'd best follow- there's a breach in the middle of them."

"Whatever. Still, it's not like Foxie to be this quiet."

"No kidding." said Slippy. "He talks more then I do."

"Hard to do." said Abbey, impressed.

"Oh, shut up!" snapped Slippy amidst the laughter of his comrades. _I'm never going to live this down._

"Nice to see someone's having a good time." said Peppy quietly.

"Agreed." said Bill, waggling his wings to keep himself alert. "But with us, the end of the road's always in sight."

"Not for Peppy, it isn't." noted Fara dryly. "How many times have you nearly gotten yourself killed now?"

"I think it stood at...hmm, thee times at the last count. Once in the Pre-Lylat War, once in the Lylat War, and the third time was over the Aparoid Homeworld."

"You must have a death wish or something." noted Bill. A voice came from the wing turret, the only gun in the fleet still firing.

"Don't use that word. Not now."

Distracted by this conversation, no one noticed that Krystal was attempting to contact James, nor that her requests were not getting through.

* * *

Reality came for the rest of the team as they were making their way through the atmosphere. Over a public channel, Medrion, the raccoon admiral was issuing a statement. 

"Deepest condolences for the Cornerian General at the loss of his son. He fought nobly and we of Grall admire his stalwart defense of his home world, one and all.

* * *

**Featured Biography: Therald Pepper**

* * *

Name: Therald Rethusela Pepper 

Gender: Male

Age: 23

Occupation: Battleship Captain

Description: Therald Pepper was the son of the late Marie Pepper, the second youngest of the three Pepper children. Like his elder brother, he went into the Cornerian Starfleet of which his father was a part of. Like his older brother, he had to fight charges of favoratism and bias, especially when he failed the fighter combat tests. However, Therald's skill lay in 'big' ships- capital ships, cruisers, destroyers, carriers- any ship that had more than ten people on board, and he could fly it. Therald climbed in the ranks the standard way, matching service at home with service on the fronts. While he was only a lieutenant at the time of the Lylat War, he served admirably and was one of those responsible for defeating Venomian forces at Area 4.

It was during this war that his elder brother, Patrick, was killed. Patrick was the captain of the Lance-Class battleship _Itherian_ when the elderly ship took part in the infamous Battle of Sector Y. Despite his considerable skill, Patrick, it was remembered, failed under stress when the damage reports for his ship began to flood in. This testimony was provided by Colonel White, who escaped on a fighter less then 20 seconds before the _Itherian_ exploded, the victim of four Venomian Suit Fighters.

Upon his brother's death, Therald was recalled from the front by his father, who clung to his last remaining son as a drowning dog would to a rock. By then, Marie Pepper had been killed in an assasination attack reminiscent of the death of Vixy McCloud five years prior. After weeks of pleading, Therald recieved permission to ship out again on the state-of-the-art dreadnought battle cruiser _Valinspur_, nicknamed the _Mary_ _Jane_ by her crew, after the famous passenger liner that, with the full approval of its passengers turned and suicidally rammed a Venomian cruiser that was attempting to board, preferring death over capture. Similar to the old fighters of yesteryear, the _Valinspur_'s tradition-loving crew painted a spray of pink flowers on the ship's prow, something that earned both ridicule and recognition in many fleet circles. When Captain Paxter left the bridge to assist in repairing one of the rear engines, Therald took command and piloted the ship to safety and victory in the Battle of Area 4.

When the war ended, Therald helped rehabilitate his ailing father, then went on to make a distinguished career in the fleet, risin through the ranks quickly. He was engaged to a certain Mary Vickers when Grall invaded, and he bade his fiance farewell before he left to assume command upon the Royal. The two some exchanged letters up until his sacrifice at the Battle of the Blockade.

Therald was awarded the Cornerian Stars and four gold Lylat Bars during his lifetime for distinguished service, and after his death, posthumously recieved the Order of the Black Sky, the highest honor that could be bestowed upon a battleship captain.

* * *


	16. A Girl's Innocence

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Notes_: So after poring over several walkthroughs, running through two Bafombodads, getting swallowed twice, and speeding around on those awesome hovercraft, I've finally gotten through the Snowhorn Wastes dungeon (Star Fox: Adventures). Yay for me!

I'll let you all know of a challenge a friend set for me in Star Fox 64. I'll let you know the results of the versus match- _after_ I down him 5-0.

This is another chapter written without waiting for the reviews, so sit back and buckle up...or whatever it is.

I'd like to ask a question here- would you all mind if I split Black Skies into three books? Or should I keep it in here? I could do either, but if I do, I'd like to put it into something similar to a Lord of the Rings style, but I suppose more on that later.

Did any of you catch my reference to Kit-Karamack's minor character? If you guessed Jane Flowers (Reflections of a New Generation), then you guessed correctly. Jane Flowers is one of my favorite minor characters ever. I suppose it's just that blend of personality, innocence, and just plain, down-to-earth logic. She's also brutally honest, something that's hard for a character like Marcus McCloud to accept. You've got to love her.

Oh yes. Look for the story, _The Mary Jane_ to come out soon. If you read the Featured Biography at the end of Chapter 13 (Noble Aspirations), then you'll know that the Dreadnought Battle Cruiser _Valinspur_ was nicknamed the _Jane_ after the passenger liner. _The Mary Jane_ will essentially be an oneshot story detailing the end of the ship. Alas...

Also, if you have any characters you'd be interested in inserting, let me know- though probably not. Still working to get Dash in, hullo! And I know the title's ridiculous, just leave me alone! I'm sucked dry for chapter names...phooey!

You may have noticed the obvious allusion to World War I and II bombers. Well, good for you! And on a similar note, I have come out with a _Lord of the Flies_ fan fiction, _The Truth of War._ Please read and review that if you can! Thanks- Raphael, out!

* * *

**Chapter 14 A Girl's Innocence  
**

* * *

"_Deepest condolences for the Cornerian General at the loss of his son. He fought nobly and we of Grall admire his stalwart defense of his home world, one and all."_

The words pierced the hearts of Star Fox more quickly and painfully then any laser. Half the team looked stunned- Abbey nearly burst into tears. Falco and Slippy had been too busy dogfighting to identify the ship that had been before them. Bill, Fara, and Fox continued on in stoic silence whilst Peppy remained slumped over his console as ROB guided the ship downwards.

Fox broke the silence with a curt order. "All ships, dock within the Great Fox. It'll be difficult, but I don't want to impede the landing of injured pilots and damaged ships."

"Roger." replied Falco flatly.

"Understood." called in Slippy tiredly.

"Gotcha." signaled Abbey. After her, the four ships of Star Wolf also confirmed. With some difficulty, they edged into the Great Fox's hangar from the back, being brought down the shaft into the main hangar.

* * *

The Great Fox set down upon the dock with a gentle rush of air from the retro rockets and the soft clanging of magnetic lines. The wings slid upwards to allow the ship to land on an even keel and the engines glowed briefly before shutting down completely. The ship hit the ground with a muffled thud, and the access panels on the starboard side slid open. A sturdy ramp extended from it and Fox McCloud exited, followed by his teammates and Star Wolf. The exhausted Peppy had to be helped by Abbey, while Krystal stuck close to Fox's side. 

As expected, there were a few flashes of cameras from the crowd assembled below, but even Slippy could plainly see that the armed guard below them was unnecessary. Fara, watching the scene from her Arwing on the next dock, observed something.

"It looks like the media's showing some honor for once." she said. Bill shook his head slowly.

"If they hadn't, I would have ripped their reporters limb from limb for invading Pepper's right to privacy. Even so, I think they learned their lesson from the last time they ran those headlines."

"Yeah." The two looked on in silence for a moment longer before Bill nudged his companion. "C'mon, Fara. We've got a transport waiting."

"Screw the transport. I'm going directly to Pepper. I don't need to be escorted around by some chauffeur."

"That's a breach of- protocol..." trailed off Bill as Fara found her speeder parked nearby and mounted it, firing the two engines and shooting off like an arrow. For the second time, Bill shook his head.

"Weren't these the things Fox used on Sauria? They could upgrade our equipment once in awhile." he complained halfheartedly, then he looked around until he found his own and got on, disappearing around a corner after his friend.

"Nice to see someone was nice enough to bring my hovercar back." growled Falco, kicking the side door again to get the engine started. "Come on, pile in. I'm not waiting for some stuffy old transport to get my debriefing."

"Right." said Fox, still unconvinced. "Isn't this that wreck you dug out of the old Great Fox's hangar back on Macbeth?"

"Yeah." said Falco shortly as he slid into the driver's seat. To his surprise, Abbey got into the passenger seat besides him. He felt his face flush, but to his relief his feathers covered it. Still, he took comfort in this- and some small amount of pleasure as well. Slippy snickered, and then Falco was back.

"Hey, frog face, hurry up and get in here!"

"Right." said Slippy, still with a small look of amusement on his face. The rest of the team piled into the hovercar with Slippy standing on the floor. Amazingly enough, the car had clearance for his short figure.

"Yeah, it's got some legroom." boasted Falco as he swerved around a building. "Anyways, there's Bill and Fara up ahead."

"Yeah, I see them." said Fox. The hovercar suddenly rocketed forward on what seemed to be borrowed speed- until the aged Peppy stuck his head outside the window. Half deaf when he pulled his ears back in, he shook his head. "It looks like he's mounted Arwing-type boosters behind the car."

"You mean I did." pouted Slippy. "It took quite awhile to keep this thing from overheating and stalling every time you activated them. But I daresay it's a good escape vehicle if you need one."

"Give me a LandMaster any day." groaned Peppy. "I like things that have more then a slab of metal between me and a laser."

"But that's exactly what the LandMaster has!"

"Okay, more then a very _thin_ slab of metal. And shields." Slippy winked at the old hare.

"When I thought of the use of this as an escape vehicle, do you really think I left shields out?"

"Just like you, Slippy." said Fox distantly. "We're coming up on the main building now."

Having passed Bill and Fara some ways back, Falco swung into a parking space and killed the engine. As the team exited the car, Bill and Fara raced up, skidding their speeders into the appropriate spots and dismounting. Both looked somewhat exhilarated, then, seeing the team's subdued mood, they lost their grins and looked solemn.

"Well..." said Abbey after a few minutes of standing around. "Shall we go in?"

"Right." said Fox automatically. He walked up to the swinging doors and stepped through, Krystal by his side once more. The rest of the team followed in single file. As they made their way towards the lift, there was an awful screeching noise from the parking lot. Krystal turned, dreading what her eyes would see. Then she saw it, a dilapidated old city transport with smoking engines. Wolf, Leon, Panther, and Katt stumbled from the wreck. Though the doors muted their mutterings, the vixen clearly saw Leon kick the craft in frustration. Still bickering loudly, the second team came in through the doors.

"Well I didn't completely total it." protested Panther half-heartedly.

"Just...shut up, Panther." replied Wolf wearily. "Alright pups, let's just move on and get this over with."

"Agreed." said Falco. Crowding into the lift, they pressed the button for Pepper's office and the doors slid shut.

* * *

The haggard eyes of General Pepper looked nothing like those of an hour before. The spotless crimson uniform was stained with tears and the gold braid that the hound so prized was loose and mussed. He looked a complete wreck, but his voice was still clear and firm, even if it was weaker then before. 

_This is what he did during the Lylat War, _realized Krystal. _The poor man is too loyal to his duties to forsake them for his own loss!_

"Star Fox, Star Wolf..." said Pepper heavily. "I am thankful that you have rejoined us. You arrived at what was very nearly the eleventh hour. With repairs draining our energy sources, the planetary shields were at less then a quarter of their normal efficiency. You probably diverted what could have been a fatal attack." The hound looked straight and Fox, Wolf, and Krystal, who were in the group's center. "Losses for the battle...were small. The battleship Royal was destroyed and the battle cruiser Alheon damaged. As you know, the captain of the Royal...was my son." Silence ruled as the general clicked his way over to the window. He spoke again.

"You fought well. Go now, rest. A counter-attack will be made against Grall in the morning. Such a grievance cannot be laid aside. Corneria shall make her stand once more!"

The brief burst of passion in Pepper's voice startled everyone, and all were keen to leave. Their haste was almost comforting to the ailing general. He went and shut the door. It closed with a bang as the hound sat at his desk- and cried.

* * *

Contrary to what Pepper said, an attack was not mounted the next day, nor the next, repairs and logistics bogging the strike down. The teams had come to the realization that all must make when friends are lost in battle- that those friends would not wish for their own loved ones to weep for them. There was no time for mourning in war, and it was thus that Star Fox, Star Wolf, and the Streak Birds faced the sunrise with a new heart. 

"Look at this." said Peppy, rustling his newspaper. "It says that observatories positioned under Grant 2 sighted explosions amongst the Grallian lines! The destruction of a battleship was confirmed by numerous military facilities- but no one knows what's causing them to be destroyed. Quite interesting indeed."

"Mechanical failures caused by stationing themselves so far from home?" suggested Slippy. "Remember, the Great Fox took quite a bit of damage en route to Venom in the Lylat War. Probably an accident."

"Like Sector Z?" quipped Bill, who had joined the team for breakfast, as did Fara. The two almost never left each other's sides now.

"Except for in Sector Z..." said Wolf slowly, "Fox had someone shooting at him. I'm against Slippy here. Who was shooting? Battleships don't just suddenly explode like that."

"I'm with Slippy." challenged Leon. Everyone stared while the chameleon continued. "From a logical standpoint, they would incur large amounts of damage through accidental collisions en route here. Perhaps one jostled a part- even just one part- which caused a critical failure. It's been known to happen- heaven knows it's happened to the Cornerian Wolf. In wartime, they may have been too hasty in their launch."

"Still, it's fishy." replied Fox, leading on his elbow. "I suppose we'll just have to wait to find out, eh?"

Krystal looked at Fox with some amount of concern. Something else that had been over the news was the disappearance of James McCloud and Pigma Dengar. Yet it seemed that Fox was taking the news lightly- his father was alive, that was all there was to know.

"I'm going to go check on Abbey and Falco. Those two were watching a movie last night, and I'm going to drag them in here before they starve. Anyone else want to come?"

Peppy downed his orange juice in a single gulp as Slippy polished off his toast. "We'll come!"

"I suppose I will too." said Fox with a glance at Panther and Katt, the latter whom had fallen asleep against Panther's shoulder. Feeling slightly insecure, he moved up besides Krystal, who grinned at him mischievously. The foursome moved off down the cold halls of the ship.

* * *

Abbey awoke sleepily. There was the noise of a new day throughout the ship, telling her that she had to get up. Still, it was so warm...she didn't want to move. The otter's mind suddenly flashed back to the previous night- and Falco. 

She felt a tingle run down her spine. She remembered falling asleep on the couch, her friend by her side. She wriggled slightly, then noticed for the first time that there were feathers touching her.

The otter started. Beside her, she felt Falco groan, still asleep, then return to his snoozing. The avian was snoring faintly. Calming down after her brief moment of panic, the otter breathed easily again, her mind slipping back into the fog of sleep. She dozed now, reflecting on last night.

* * *

_Falco brushed Abbey's back with his wing feathers absentmindedly as the movie went on. The otter stirred slightly, still watching attentively. Then the falcon touched the soft fur at the base of her neck, his wing running down her back. She shivered suddenly as sensations raced through her body, leaving it tingling. Her focus shifted abruptly from the movie. She was still watching it, but her attention was elsewhere- Falco's wing..._

_There it was again, caressing her shoulder. She couldn't help herself. Almost unconsciously, she trembled again, pushing up against the touch. She felt small and vulnerable, two feelings she despised. Yet with Falco...they felt alright..._

_What am I doing? she had thought, but her body betrayed her again and she was leaning against a startled avian, no small amount of pleasure filling her mind. Falco felt awkward, then did what he guessed was right- put a wing around his friend. Abbey's face flushed as the feathers stroked her fur, running through it gently. An indescribable feeling filled her and left the girl speechless- she turned towards Falco, her eyes questioning. He looked back..._

* * *

"I..." The word escaped the otter's lips in an almost silent sigh. There were those annoying noises again, like that bad alarm clock that wouldn't be quiet. Everyone seemed so loud in the mornings. Then she froze. Were those...footsteps? 

_Oh no! They're looking for me!_ she thought, realizing that it must be past breakfast time. Her eyes opened, and though her vision was still blurry, she saw the clock. It read clearly 11:00- nearly noon! Even if they'd had a late breakfast...

_I can't move!_ she realized suddenly. Falco was leaning on her, yes, but it wasn't the fact that she was nearly beneath him that immobilized her. _If I move, he'll wake up- and they'll know!_ She felt afraid, vulnerable again. And then embarrassed. How would she explain _this?_

* * *

Krystal approached the door to the recreation room, grinning at Fox and the others. They all shared a wink. Having checked their teammates' quarters, they knew that there was only one place the two could be. Slippy had reviewed the security logs, and no one had left the recreation room. Fox reached for the panel to open the door, but Slippy silently motioned for him to wait. The toad switched something on, and suddenly no one could hear anything. Slippy gestured reassuringly, then Fox opened the door, walking in stealthily. 

The foursome made it into the room safely, then Slippy shut the muting device off. They were behind the couch now, and Fox made a gesture. Krystal didn't understand at first until she realized what he was signaling from his thoughts. A standard team signal, flank the enemy- or in this case, the target. Krystal nodded to show she understood, then crawled behind Fox until they were beneath the sofa's sides. Then the vulpine dashed out suddenly in front of the otter and falcon, Krystal close behind. Abbey looked terrified- then there was a bright flash as Slippy clicked a shutter. There was a brief whine of electricity, then the toad brandished a camera triumphantly. Abbey was rendered mute by the unexpectedness of the situation- then Falco woke up as the rest of the team fell about laughing.

"Huh? Whatsit?" he grumbled, opening his eyes. "Someone put a lid on it- oh, no."

He leapt up, but Peppy pushed him back down onto Abbey, laughing as he did so. "Oh, come on, Falco!" he teased. "So you finally landed yourself a girl?"

"You old man, I'm going to-" he began before being hit squarely in the face with a cushion. The bird leapt up again, grabbed the offending pillow, and charged at Fox, swinging the pillow as the vulpine grabbed another. Feathers flew as a cushion ripped...

* * *

Fox was still chuckling as the six left the room. "I'll have ROB clean up the mess." he remarked. "Come on, Slippy, send that picture to the breakfast room and put it on the mainscreens. I'd like to see the look on the others' faces..." 

"Please don't!" begged Abbey, but Slippy withdrew the camera anyway. Falco and Abbey lunged at him at the same time, but the toad did a combat roll and pressed the 'send' button. Falco picked himself up, looking resigned, then stopped to help up Abbey. Both of them looked at each other in quiet understanding, then raced off after the others.

The scene in the breakfast room was utter chaos. Bill had actually fallen from his seat with laughter- Wolf had one-upped him, toppling the chair as well. Both were laughing and shaking with mirth, the absurd picture sending everyone into hysterics. Even Leon was grinning quietly.

"I suppose you all needed _something_ to loosen y'all up." said Falco dismissively after they'd finally calmed down. "Still, Toad, I'm gonna kill you..."

"So after eleven years or so..." said a voice at the door, "you two are still at it? Tsk!" The fox stepped into the room as Fox leapt up, running for the door.

"Dad!" he cried, rushing into the embrace of his father. "Where'd you go? I've been looking for you!"

"More on that later, son!" replied James cheerily. "Pigma and I didn't think we should leave you hanging for this long, so we decided to swing by. General's business, y'know. And what in the name of tarnation is _that?_" asked James, pointing at the picture of Abbey and Falco prominently displayed on the viewscreens. James turned to Falco, still holding Fox with one arm. The other was pointing at the bird in mock severity. "You've got a lot to explain, young man!"

Abbey and Falco looked at each other in resignation as the room burst into laughter once more, aided more by the sight of Pigma waddling up behind James. It was a far cry from the sullen gatherings of several days ago.

"Initiate launch." said a quiet voice. A rumble filled the launching shaft as a silvery blur erupted from its mouth, then snapped open its wings as it soared off into the morning skies.


	17. A Blind, Reckless Charge

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Ah, well, here we go again! I think I have now decided to split this story into three books- Lylat (Book 1), Eloria (Book 2), and Grall (Book 3). The significance behind these names is pretty clear, although as of yet I have not revealed much about the second book. 

V-Starfox seems to be under maintenance in the docking bay- I'll wait for the next round for a review from her. notfromEarth7, thanks for the encouraging personal message, but pray direct that kind of remark to the senior author's who are far better then me, in particular Foxmerc, Destructor, and Kit-Karamack, all of whom I admire greatly (I am reading Footsteps over Lylat at the moment). Still, thanks for that! Sorry it's a short chapter, but I got distracted yet again...

For you FalcoxAbbey lovers, there'll be a scene with the two of them eventually.

* * *

**Chapter 15 A Blind, Reckless Charge**

* * *

"All weapon systems are online." chimed the female voice. "No anomalies detected." 

_If there were any, I wouldn't be up here, now would I?_ thought the pilot absent-mindedly as he rested old paws upon the twin joysticks. The soft whine of his lasers powering up was filling him with a sense of euphoria once more. He watched as the shield gauge rapidly filled, a line around it flashing green and white to signify optimum performance. The boost meter on the opposite corner was full, the border dark blue. The pilot watched these two critical readouts, and then looked at his HUB once more. Everything was working. _Everything's working today._

* * *

"I'm still waiting for an answer." said James genially. Fox swished his tail back and forth, a look of impish delight stamped on his face as Falco and Abbey squirmed uncomfortably. James was about to press the point when he froze at a remark. 

"I've got a cloaked ship taking off from the base. It must be a Mark 4 Arwing, because I don't know any other ship that can climb that fast."

"Pepper." breathed James. "The idiot! He can't take one day off from his own personal vendetta..." The fox broke away from his son suddenly, Pigma following him tensely. "Come on, hurry up! We've got to follow him before he gets himself killed!" Fox just stood there until James beckoned. "You too!" The humor in the room evaporated almost instantly as James ran back into the entrance room.

The older vulpine opened the egress and shoved his way past a uniformed messenger, the treatment on himself and Pigma showing as the two ran down the gangway as easily as any youth. The courier looked unnerved, and then rapped on the doorway loudly until the rest of Star Fox came to the door.

"General Pepper wishes to present to you four of the new Arwings-" he began before Fox cut him off.

"Not now!" he practically shouted. "We're a little busy!" The poor weasel had the door slammed in his face as running noises filled the sealed room.

Fox sprinted down one of the long hallways of the ship, the cerulean vixen beside him keeping pace admirably. Peppy had also received his shots after lengthy persuasion, but still too ginger to test his newly enhanced joints, he headed for the bridge lift instead as Fara and Bill made their way for the hangar as well. Falco did not miss the opportunity to sweep Abbey into an embrace before he took ahold of the otter's paw and dragged her down the same shaft with great speed, despite the fact that she was half stunned.

* * *

Words could not describe the confusion of the Arspace technicians standing by the gleaming new prototypes as five standard Mark IIIs and two Mark IVs screamed from the hangar, followed soon after by a Lerowing V and the grandfather of Cornerian fighter craft, the Mark I.

* * *

"Sir, another advanced Cornerian fighter has appeared on the scopes." 

"He's back again?" asked Tyron wearily. The lizard scratched at his scales as he watched the viewscreens apprehensively. "Don't scramble the normal fighters again; launch only the anti-fighter and weapons-platform ships. Try and prevent a massacre this time."

"Affirmative, sir." replied the officer, and as he turned away to carry out his duties, Tyron wiped his brow.

_He's back again? This guy is unstoppable!_ The reptile watched with dread as the repaired hangar doors on the Thire opened and spat forth a multitude of the weapon-platform fighters and the anti-fighter craft, equipped with the lethal Grallian machine guns. Cold fear spiked into Tyron's heart, and then he made his decision. While his subordinates were still making their arrangements, he slipped away unnoticed and unannounced. The time for a clash of generals had come. Now it was a contest of honor, bravery, and luck. To the victor now went the battle.

* * *

General Pepper grinned wolfishly, a double set of boxes within each other panning slowly around the screen. The hound depressed both laser triggers, listening to a low-pitched whine as a charged ball of energy focused on his Arwing's nose, similar to the focal lasers of battleships. The first box turned yellow, the second red. A third box spiraled around a ship ahead, closing inwards and shrinking until it just barely fit around the enemy fighter. Although it was only represented on the HUD, it was a final blow- Pepper released the trigger and the laser ball shot off, hitting the enemy craft and exploding with about a fourth of the power of a Nova Bomb. Barrel rolling and looping, his pearl lasers shot out once more to vaporize ever increasing numbers of a dwindling and demoralized foe. Another threat entered the fray- the combined commanding ships of Star Fox, Star Wolf, and the Streak Birds, numbering 13 in all. 

"That hound's gone absolutely insane." muttered Bill Grey as he spun in a tight circle, two bright yellow trailing stars following his wingtips and reflecting laser shot. Pulling out of the roll, the major leveled his sights at a foe and pounded it relentlessly with hyper lasers, the blue lasers burning into the shields of the foe. Bill was not unduly surprised when the foe pulled up in a clumsy loop, attempting to come behind the Cornerian. Bill banked hard to the left and swooped around sideways, returning the foe to his sights once more. This time, the ship did not survive the barrage.

Krystal worked in tandem with Fox, the two weaving in and out of each others flight patterns. While some of their intricate maneuvers were nearly suicidal, Krystal's telepathy and Fox's skill prevented a collision. Charge shots whizzed from the noses of both Arwings, striking their targets. Even as these shots were loosed, streams of azure lasers were fired in perfect harmony, taking down the shields of one ship after another. Krystal gracefully swooped up and around Fox, the vulpine watching admiringly before pulling a tight U-turn and ramming an enemy. The Arwing's hull pierced that of a weakened foe, and the enemy failed to reappear from the resulting blast.

Slippy Toad still possessed a small measure of insecurity from his poor piloting in the Lylat War, sticking close to Fox and Krystal for protection. Nevertheless, his trademark character began to get the best from him and he ventured far from the group. Jerking the ship left and right and evading furiously, Slippy Toad made his stand and defended his reputation, downing no less then ten pilots in a matter of minutes. Now being chased by a machine-gun fighter, he was forced to abort temporarily, though not before taking a parting shot at the enemy in the form of an EMP pulse, the shot absorbing lasers fired at him until he recovered and flew off to make his escape.

_Interesting side effect,_ he mused. _That's just the kind of thing Fox would love to have in a real fight! Oh wait..._

_This is a real fight, Slippy!_ chided Krystal, using her telepathy once more. Even as Slippy jumped in his seat and panicked for a moment, the vixen was already locking onto another ship, ignoring the pangs of terror and fear emanating from the pilot as she fired crippling blows. Then, almost as an afterthought, she fired a weak shot that sent the pilot flying back towards the mothership. _I'll let that little guy go._

James spun past Fox's right flank in a blur, lasers firing. The ship in front of the vulpine exploded into a cloud of fragmented debris, a few random shots arcing out from the cannons before they died. Smiling at the thanks, James expertly flipped his ship up and to the right, bringing his lasers to bear upon another cruiser. _Son, I still am the better flyer._ Then he frowned. He suddenly realized he was in a cycle of _reaction_- the first sign of a turning battle. He was _reacting_ to attacks, not acting on his own. A sickening feeling in his gut told him that they would soon be overrun.

Pigma pulled a clumsy roll to the left, thanking his ship again for its superior defensive abilities. Although he, like Slippy, relied heavily upon his ship itself for protection, he had not practiced in real combat for almost a decade. The swine was sweating profusely as he leveled his lasers at another fighter, trying to cripple it. The ship ahead pulled a laborious U-turn and rocketed straight back at the pig, opening fire with two missiles and a heavy cannon in the center. Pigma flipped the switch for a WPR and rolled immediately, his ship shuddering violently as the missiles struck both wings and the cannon hit the Arwing's nose. The latter was diffused and robbed of its power because of its striking point- the former came close to blowing both wings off. Flames were now trailing from malfunctioning components in one of his wings and one of his G-Diffuser wings on the opposite side was also emitting flames from the leading edge. Smoke was trailing from what the pig assumed was a burst capacitor in the right side of the nose, and the ship shuddered ominously as Pigma fired a Nova bomb, incinerating the enemy in front of him. With alarms blaring, the swine reversed his ship. On every other fighter, a bright X appeared over his face on the HUD. "Sorry guys, I've got to bail!"

Falco dove below an enemy fighter, just barely nicking it with his wingtip. His Arwing spun perilously before Falco harnessed that momentum and barreled into another fighter, blasting it to bits. Careening past bits of the ruined hull, the falcon hit his G-Diffusers hard to arrest his forward momentum, regaining control mere seconds later and flying off once more, lasers streaking from his Arwing.

Fighting similarly, Abbey was staying on the outskirts of the battle, nicking any ship that approached her. She whittled carefully at the numbers airborne, a shot here, a bomb there. Sensing a weak spot, she dove in and joined Falco, flying in tandem with her friend.

Fara's old Arwing vibrated as it thrust forward, rolling to one side and then the other. The fennec's ship was just about equal with the worst of the Grallian ships- with only an old G-Diffuser, she was scarcely more maneuverable then they, and much less powerful in shielding and weapons. Her old twin lasers arced out, spattering almost harmlessly against a light cruiser. The ship turned and a point-defense laser mounted in the rear drove her off, her shields falling to a ruinous 20 percent. Despite this, the pilot pressed on, rolling up in a tight somersault and willing her boosters not to fail. They did not, and she came behind the Grallian and blasted it to pieces.

"If we were in open space, this battle would be much harder." she reflected aloud. "I need a new ship."

"Why you kept that one in the first place..." began Bill, "is still unknown to all of us. Guys, I want to get Pepper out of here, pronto. Look at him- this guy's just going insane!"

"I agree with that, Bill," replied Fox, "but in case you haven't noticed, it's rather hard to _do_ that right now." Then he squinted. "Hey, wait a moment..."

As he spoke, a strange fighter blasted out of the Thire's forward docking bay. The ship had a slim fuselage, with two straight wings protruding from its middle and two vertical wings near the end. A red proton discharge flamed from an engine aperture, also in the back. From two of them, actually. Several support struts ran between the wings, keeping them steady. Most interesting of all, a small set of grills on the ship's back glowed blue, sloping down from the cockpit. This ship seemed far more maneuverable then its counterparts, and the whole ship seemed to shimmer ominously. Slippy focused his scanners on it anxiously before it opened a comm. channel.

"An admirable fight, Cornerians. All ships, return to the docking bay!" When this order was acknowledged- not without some bickering- the ship boosted forwards, facing squarely-head on with Pepper's Arwing. The voice began once more.

"I am Admiral Tyron of the Grallian 2nd Division. It was my flagship which brought down the Cornerian battleship in that battle days ago. I am here to meet my admirable counterpart in single combat."

"Who's he kidding?" asked Fox to no one in particular. "They have honor and suchlike, but this guy's old-fashioned." Falco frowned.

"True, but it actually wasn't that long ago when commanders stopped facing each other in one-on-one battles. Some still believe in that old code of chivalry." Then he snorted. "If you ask me, we should just disable Pepper and drag him down now."

"He'd fire us." pointed out Slippy.

"Oh, right."

"I'd say leave him alone." said Abbey quietly. Heads turned to look at her as she continued over the closed channel. "I mean, old-fashioned or not, this kind of archaic combat might be what Pepper needs to come to his senses."

"Do we leave him to it, though?" pressed Fara. "He's not in his right mind!"

"He's going to go for it anyway." affirmed Krystal. "I can sense it."

"Those ships are about equal in technological abilities." pronounced Slippy suddenly. "That ship appears to have something they call a Field Rift, a device that's actively warping gravity around it. It's quite different from any of our G-Diffuser systems- the closest thing to it is Wolf's Gravity Blades. Watch this one, he's quick."

James, floating above the others gritted his teeth. "Quick or not, Pepper's done this one too many times." he said. "Pigma and I have been getting medical therapy, yes, but we've also been following him out here for the last few days. He wants his personal vengeance, and he just won't let go. Stubborn old bulldog."

"Hey!" protested Bill. "Watch yourself, mister!"

"I accept your challenge." boomed Pepper suddenly. His Arwing suddenly flared with energy as the hound readied for battle. The ship ahead likewise prepared, engines flaring brightly. Then, seemingly on an unspoken agreement, both ships charged forwards, lasers firing. The machine guns on Tyron's fighter were eating slowly at Pepper's shields, but the general rolled and deflected many of these shots. His own white lasers struck Tyron repeatedly, inflicting severe damage even as the lizard raised a deflection shield. Tyron rocketed past Pepper and banked hard, coming in behind the enraged general and opening quick and devastating fire. The Arwing IV rattled and smoke and flame erupted from its siding, but even as the shields failed, the stout armor turned the weaker rapid-fire lasers. The onlookers groaned in despair- the Star Wolf team looked away.

Then Pepper recovered himself, the G-Diffusers flaring brightly and blinding Tyron as he ground to a halt, the Grallian flying past before Pepper opened devastatingly accurate fire. Shots overwhelmed Tyron's shielding, and a final shot sent the ship spiraling helplessly towards the Cornerian atmosphere.

"Open the shields." ordered Pepper calmly, his mind seeming to clear suddenly. The stunned crew on the ground scurried to obey, and Tyron fell through the gap in the shields, his ship turning red as it hurtled through the skies of Corneria.

"Hopefully he won't burn up before he hits the ground." muttered Falco. Fox shook his head as the entire Grallian armada opened fire.

"Come on guys, let's get out of here." The three teams made a dash into the atmosphere, James staying behind to coax a victorious Pepper off the battlefield. His fresh Arwing took several hits for the hound on the way down, but James paid it no mind. The day was won, and he patted himself on the back as the shields closed over the gap once more.

* * *

"Now, remind me again why we aren't sitting in a press room with microphones stuffed down our throats, sipping sodas?" asked Falco sarcastically. Fox rolled his eyes. 

"Because all the tranquilizers and alcohol in the world wouldn't stop Pepper right now, and we got the short straw to guard the dear General's mental ward."

"You've got to admit," said Slippy, "I'm glad the military will follow the orders of a doctor in the hospital. Otherwise..."

"Don't finish that thought, Slippy." said Abbey shakily. She'd nearly been shot by a heavy laser on the way back, and her nerves were still frazzled. "I don't need a repeat performance."

Falco placed a wing around the otter- she drew close, closing her eyes and letting her mind sink into a state of blissful relaxation.

James watched the two with an experienced eye. He remembered with a pang of nostalgia when he and Vixy were like that... The vulpine shook himself back to reality when he was approached by a medical aide who snapped to attention with an efficiency only the military could muster. James smiled, but before he could speak, Fox interrupted.

"No need to salute- as mercenaries, we technically hold no rank."

"Of course, Mister...um, McCloud. Merely a gesture of respect for your feats and courage." The young hare then turned back to James. "Your comrade is alright." James let out a sigh of relief at that as the hare continued. "He sustained multiple burns and nearly broke his leg when banged around in the cockpit, but he's fine overall. He is, however, unconscious." McCloud senior sighed again at this.

"I suppose something must be given for good." he said sadly. "He's holding alright, no?"

"For someone as old as he is," said the attendant, "he's doing very well. He should be well enough to speak in about a day and a half."

"Good to hear." said Fox distantly- there was Wolf marching up down the hall. The aide stiffened, bowed, then left the room quickly. Wolf made his way over to Fox, looking grim.

"Most of the enemy forces have leapt into hyperspace." he said. "The day has been held and carried."

"That's great news, Wolf!" called Slippy enthusiastically. "But then why are you so grim about it?"

"Because of the implications!" shot back Wolf, causing the toad to cower in his seat. "You lot are too valuable to the public to be risked now! This is sometime around the thirtieth time you've made it in the nick of time to save the day! The public isn't so sure about us! Some still hold us accountable for attacks in the Lylat War." The lupine's voice dropped suddenly. "And thus, we are expendable."

"Guess who'll be the shock troops to go scout the Grallians back out? It'll be us." As he finished his somber tirade, yet another courier burst in through the doors of the facility, shouting his message for all to hear.

"The Grallian admiral's been located- and he surrendered himself and his ship!"


	18. Parting of Ways

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: As I have detailed numerous times, I feel the last few chapters to be severely lacking in any sort of scope or appearance. Rather, I published them just to advance the story a bit further. 

I've decided to break up Black Skies into four sections. They are:

-Unveiled Threats (Prologue) Ch. 1 – 16

-Lylat (Book I) Ch. 17 - ?

-Eloria (Book II) Ch. ? - ?

-Grall (Book III) Ch. ? - ?

In addition, I have added the Introduction and Disclaimer as Chapter 1. In addition, I will soon be entering the blank page indicating the beginning of Unveiled Threats. If you've ever read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you'll understand what I mean. No ASCII art though, I honestly have no idea how to work with that.

I know I've been neglecting some of the characters as of late. I'm fairly sure I attempted to juggle too many characters at once, these being the four members of Star Wolf, the six members of Star Fox, the multiple personas of the Streak Birds, Cornerian Military heads, and their Grallian counterparts. Lylat will probably help me clear the congestion a bit because Star Wolf and the Streak Birds will be _almost_ entirely out of the picture. Essentially, Lylat is a rather long patrol through the system- one that is not without reason, of course. Two reasons create the incentives for the patrol- or make that three. Pepper, trying to hide his charge and now knowing the dangers the Grallians pose (you will see the damage incurred when Slippy begins repairs en route) now cannot afford risking his chief propaganda source, similar to what Wolf says. Likewise, he sends Star Wolf and the Cornerian Wolf on a scouting/probing mission, inevitably following Wolf's prediction. Second reason is to combat something that really annoys me- the fact that people seem to think of Lylat as two-dimensional. It's very irritating, and the possibility of attacks from 'above' and 'below' are fascinating- things Pepper would realize, along with more flanking attacks. Third, strange activity has been sighted once more in the infamous Sector O, so designated because of the nebula nearby. This is the location of the Aparoid Homeworld- or where it once stood, anyway. More upon that later. Sorry for the delay.

Whew, Unveiled Threats is finally over! Whoopee! Now, Tyron's not gonna appear for awhile, and neither's Star Wolf, but anyway, prepare for what's essentially a slugfest between the original Star Fox and the new one! Read and review- Raphael, out!

* * *

**Chapter 16 Parting of Ways**

* * *

"We really did a number on these things, Fox." said Slippy grimly. "Though with your permission, I'm not going to let the Cornerian mechanics in here. I've got too much personal hardware installed onto these ships to risk other technicians tampering with them." 

"Agreed." said Fox. He shook his head slowly as he surveyed the beleaguered ships in the hangar. Scorch marks adorned all five of them- two of the G-Diffuser wings had overloaded and burnt out on Abbey's ship, and a hit had caused a third to suffer an internal explosion, warping the metal and wrecking the hardware. Krystal's Arwing was still leaking smoke from the engine ports, and clear evidence of a fire was even then showing within the G-Diffuser wing on the top left side. Slippy saw Fox looking at it and sighed.

"I don't know what's burning in there, but I can't put it out. I'll have to remove the entire wing later."

"Be careful about it." warned Krystal, entering the hangar through a side door. "It was giving me trouble through the whole fight." She walked up to Fox and embraced him- the vulpine returned the hug and clutched the vixen tightly. Krystal broke away to survey the damage with Fox- it was not cheering in the least.

Besides the damage to Abbey and Krystal's Arwings, Falco's had sustained serious damage. An overload in the hyper laser power system had burnt out the other cannon, and the one that had been hit was little more than a twisted piece of steel, the wing around it scorched pure black. Smoke tarnished the armor in multiple places, and like the others, his G-Diffusers had all taken damage. Fox and Slippy's Arwings had emerged relatively intact, but the damage upon the rest of the ships would be difficult to repair. The entire hangar smelt of burnt rubber and charred metal. Krystal held her nose at the scent.

"Say, Slippy?" asked Fox suddenly. "Weren't the Arspace technicians supposed to drop by and give us the new Arwings?"

The toad slapped himself in the forehead with a wrench, his cap taking most of the blow. The gesture still made him see stars for a moment, but he recovered quickly, slapping himself with his paw again. "I knew it!" he screamed shrilly. "Four burns already, and I _knew_ I forgot something!"

Krystal grinned at this display. "Don't worry, Slip." she said kindly. "I'm sure Abbey will fix those up for you. And you can fix these in your spare time. Might be useful someday."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." grumbled Slippy, throwing the wrench away bad-temperedly. It struck his own Arwing in a shower of sparks and whizzed off. The toad held up a two-pronged device and flicked it on. A blue glow collected at the end of both prongs, and the wrench came slamming into the magnetized tool, whereupon Slippy turned it off again and grabbed the wrench, setting it down in a toolbox.

Krystal gazed around the room, marveling at how much more room there was. "It's a shame Wolf and his crew won't be getting new ships."

"Wolfens are still nearly at the top of their line." said Slippy absent-mindedly. "I wonder why they packed up and left for the Cornerian Wolf so quickly? It's much less comfortable on that old hunk of a carrier than the Great Fox."

"He said something about that earlier..." said Krystal, frowning. "Remember, Fox?"

"Yeah." replied the vulpine. "They're feeling like they're shock troops, owing to the low public opinion of them."

"Which is ridiculous, especially since they made the diversion that let us break through!" exclaimed Krystal. Fox glanced at her sideways.

"Old wounds die hard." he replied noncommittally. "Anyways, let's go out and have a look at these new ships." Krystal cooled down quickly after that- by the time they hopped out from the hangar mouth to the ground, a short drop, she was cheerful once more.

* * *

By the time Fox, Krystal, and Slippy arrived, the rest of the team had assembled. A team of eager scientists were circling the five gleaming Arwings before the Great Fox. Slippy immediately broke off to talk to the lead technician- another escorted the dumbstruck team around the Arwings. 

"I thought I've seen everything with the Lerowing V." gasped Fox, looking around at the ship. Longer and thinner than the Arwing III, the sleek, elegant design of the IV seemed to flow perfectly from wingtip to wingtip. It looked almost too beautiful to mar in combat.

"Pah, the Lerowing?" snorted the scientist. "StarTech has nothing on Arspace. Anyway, she is a beauty. And I think I know what you're thinking- these babies are fully combat ready. Your father and his friend, along with General Pepper, were all flying these, and the flight data we got back was exceptional. The boosters on this ship will run for nearly forever without overheating, so you can forget about stalling in rolls and dives when you need the extra speed. Don't think it's a permanent engine boost though, after awhile it'll start draining your main engines. But it's nice to know you can burn them for upwards of 48 hours straight and still have them running fine. Now, the shields are about five times as powerful as they are on the III, and the pearl lasers are fitted with both hyper and twin redundancies, and that's not even counting the pearl laser gattling gun mounted in the nose with a single laser redundancy factor. You can fire either wing turret without the other because of an upgraded power system, and if you want, you can fire all the redundancies at once- just be aware it'll kill start killing your shields after awhile. You can carry two incendiary missiles between the G-Diffuser wings and the hull- four in all. Maximum payload, four missiles, nine bombs. Maximum power charge for flight time runs in the billions, so don't worry about running out of clicks. The G-Diffuser Systems have been upgraded in performance by about 20 percent, so you can come screaming home on one G-Diffuser wing and still come out smiling. The IV can also target enemies that are not in visual range yet with the magnification scope in the display screen integrated with the cockpit, so you can actually snipe if you want to try. Wings are attached to the plane at the molecular level with the strongest Cornerian alloys, so they'll never rip off. The front end of the ship is fitted with a special cutting edge if you ever want to try ramming. Also, you can synthesize fuel in a pinch, and you can go into hyperspeed for upwards of twenty hours. Also..."

"Alright, Doc, I think we get it." interrupted Falco. "Are we allowed to take them for a test run?"

"Certainly. However, we must ask that you stay away from the city- and we have been authorized to allow you to shake any pursuing media craft. Not with live rounds, however."

"As if." snorted Falco, already swinging himself into the nearest Arwing available. Instead of launching, the avian did something surprising. "You do the honors, Fox." he said firmly.

"But of course. And thanks." replied the vulpine with a grin, swinging himself into another Arwing. With almost practiced ease, he powered up the main computer system, which turned on in a flash- and then displayed a loading screen.

"Ah, about that." said the scientist, coming up beside Fox. "The Arwing IV is not as good for a scramble as the III. Due to increased strains on the processors, no matter what our progress, the fighter cannot launch immediately. It will run self checks for you, but unless you wish to fly blind and with only hyper lasers, you must wait the three minutes for the boot up."

"I can see where that would be a problem." noted Fox. "Nothing this good would have no drawbacks. Slippy, when we get back, move the IIIs up to the rear hangar. I want to be able to scramble something if we're attacked."

"Got it, boss." replied the toad, ambling over from where he had been standing. "It'll take me a few days to fix them up though."

"Then keep one Arwing prepped at all times. And now..." Fox trailed off, then pressed his paw onto the launch sequence button, the computer having completely started. It chimed at him as the sequence activated, the canopy sealing automatically. A low whine filled the air as two G-Diffuser pulses came from beneath the craft. These increased in rapidity until the ship lifted off, the light fading from beneath as the white ion stream shot from the engines, the Arwing speeding high into the air. Falco was off merely seconds later, Slippy, Krystal, and Abbey hopping into the remaining Arwings. As was expected, Slippy's finished the boot process the fastest and sped off, the toad whooping in exhilaration. Then followed Krystal, and after that, Abbey.

* * *

"How do you like it up there?" asked the Arspace head, Benjamin Marvin. 

"Enough that we wouldn't want to come down!" replied Fox humorously. The vulpine pulled a barrel roll easily, then jinked around Abbey and playfully shot up around her. "It's quite a thrill. Do you fly the planes you make?"

"Sometimes." admitted Benjamin. "I'd advise you to try testing out your firepower. The power cells will last for quite awhile, so don't worry about those. I'll make sure to stock your ship up with them. Do we have permission to start moving some aboard?"

"Permission granted." replied Fox. He pulled his ship upwards. "Is there any difference in handling between atmospheric and space enviorment?"

"Fox, after flying G-Diffuser equipped ships, you should know the answer to that." chided Slippy. "The new system's advanced enough that there's essentially none- not that there really was in any of the Arwings." Then he frowned. "Ben, I'm looking over the data here, and it seems to say that the Arwing's computer systems overload if we attempt to use wing gun repeating alternating fire?"

"Alright, alright, you caught it." said Benjamin reluctantly. "The systems tend to overload when you use them for too long. Far too much strain is placed on the multiple-barrel coolant systems, so don't try using two for any length of time. Certainly don't attempt to use all three machine gun systems at once for any length longer than 20 seconds. You should try the 'devastator' attacks right now, make sure you know how to fly the plane with a dead computer."

"Alright then." said Fox confidentially. "Slippy, monitor my ship. I'll try first."

"Okay, to power up the rapid-fire, find the laser control panel and flip the appropriate switches..."

"Done and done." said Fox. "I'm assuming I just pull the trigger, right?"

"Exactly. Nothing fancy."

"Then here goes!"

To the onlookers on the ground and in the air, it almost looked as if the front of Fox's Arwing exploded, so brilliant was the initial flash. When the yellow glare subsided and the watchers' eyesight had returned, they still had to shutter their eyes against the massive stream of fire coming from the ship. The colors of the lasers were barely discernable- a green bolt, then a blue, then a pure white shot- over and over again, the cycle running nearly every second. Then, all the lasers synchronized and fired at once, a green, blue, and white laser flying in perfect harmony. Then, with a spectacular flash from within the Arwing, Fox's computer shut down with a loud beep. Fully prepared for this, Fox switched the controls to manual and piloted the craft with precision in a series of loops and rolls, though most required more airspace and were wider than their computer-controlled counterparts.

"Alright, everything looks fine so far." he reported. "Stick feels a bit dead, but I'm alright. That completely killed my shields and just about everything else, but at least the engine's still running."

"That was amazing." breathed Slippy. "You'll be getting your systems online in about...five, four, three, two, one- mark!"

On cue, the computer screen flickered to life, running through an abbreviated boot up before becoming fully operational.

"What happens if this bird crashes?" he quipped, nursing his ship back into higher skies.

"You'll probably have a concussive injury if you don't have your restraints on. Definitely some bruises, but I wouldn't worry about the ship." asserted Benjamin. "The armor, as I said, can take just about anything."

"Erm, okay. Pardon if I don't exactly trust everything you say." said Fox, touching a scar subconsciously. "I crash landed once in the 'indestructible' Type I Arwing, and it left this."

* * *

As the day wore on, the Arspace technicians packed up and left as the team tried a variety of scenarios, everything designed on the spot by Slippy. Engine failures to laser explosions, engine implosion and complete system failure, everything a pilot feared. Slippy tried to teach the team various scanner configurations, but quickly gave it up at as a lost cause- thus, he was the one to warn the team first when he spotted an unidentified aircraft nearby.

"I've got a bogey coming at us at seven o' clock."

"We hear you!" replied Krystal. "I'm going to investigate."

"Probably just a media chase plane." said Fox nonchalantly. "If it is, just show him your exhaust fumes and let us know. I've no desire to bandy words with a news reporter."

"Okay then!" she replied brightly, and the vixen shot off towards the blip. She was momentarily confused when she saw it was a Mark IV Arwing- but her questions were put to rest when she realized it was Fox's father.

"Alright then, you should've noticed me earlier," said James, flying into the middle of the team, "but good enough. I'm just here to put you through your paces!"

"Dud mode's on." croaked Slippy, looking at his display panels. "I guess that means I'll be referee." Almost immediately, lasers began to lance out of James's Arwing, striking Fox's ship and causing it to shake. "Fox's hit! Damage done, about eight percent!"

"You're on, pop." said Fox, grinning wickedly. "I haven't been idle while you were out." The vulpine pulled a steep loop, coming in behind James- or where he should have been, anyway.

"Fox, on your nine!" shouted Falco, opening fire. He missed by the smallest of margins, the lasers searing the air around James. His attack run foiled, the pilot pulled a sharp U-turn and came at Falco, all guns blazing. The bird barrel-rolled and deflected the shots, leaving Slippy to call out-

"All shots deflected! No damage done!"

"You've gotten better, flyboy." said James, locking onto Falco. "But you still can't beat me. I helped teach you to fly!"

"The student still beats the teacher." quipped Falco. "I'm not getting downed in a minute like last time."

James fired his shot, the energy ball streaking towards the avian. Abbey's ship, previously unnoticed, came soaring in to intercept. A quick roll deflected the shot at the perfect angle, causing it to smack into James's ship.

"Hey, what's this? Oh, not you again!" cried James in mock distress. "Alright then, otter- let's see how you handle this fight!" Falco drove him off, but not before James had landed three or four direct hits.

"Ten percent of damage done!" called Slippy, maneuvering behind James and opening the long-range targeting reticule. A magnified image of the Arwing appeared, and he fired, just missing a power line. "Agh..." he said, wincing as James turned towards him. Outclassed almost immediately, Slippy was forced to retire, calling out, "Slippy's hit!" as he went. The old line brought out a snicker from more than one of those present.

After awhile, when shields were down and failures had occurred on many of the ships, James signaled Slippy to refresh everyone. "Alright guys, how about a little chase? I'll let you land once you tag me!"

"You're asking for it!" whooped Krystal, slamming her thrusters onto full and chasing after James. Even Falco just stared in slack-jawed amazement in how closely the vixen tailed her quarry. Even as the rest of the team belatedly tried to follow, James shook them off with a roll and S-bend- but not Krystal. The girl doggedly followed James, and opened fire with a full laser salvo to end the war game with a bang. When they all landed on the Great Fox, James was laughing.

* * *

"Bravo! It looks like I'm the one rusty here!" 

"Not as much as I probably am." replied Peppy, jogging briskly down the stairs. Slippy just goggled- Krystal and Abbey leaned on each other and giggled.

"Glad to see you've finally realized the wonders of youth." observed Fox wryly. Peppy winked.

"When it's dark, maybe I'll have a flight with James, Pigma too if he's well enough. They did an accelerated treatment on him. But I promise you, once the day's done, you'll see who's better at war games...I may have flown with all of you, but don't think I'm out of tricks!"

"That you've been hoarding for over ten years?" asked Fox in mock outrage. "We could've used some at Area 6 or even over Venom!"

"Doubtless, but you didn't need them." chuckled Peppy. "Maybe I'll invite Fara and Bill over for the pow-wow. Fara got one of the new Arwings too."

"Mm-hmm." inserted Krystal offhandedly. "But I was thinking...shouldn't we name these new ships? Even if Peppy's isn't here yet?"

"Me?" cried the hare in disbelief. "I'm still too old to fly something as fancy as that-"

"Oh, quit it." said Fox teasingly. "But maybe Krystal's right. These are the best ships yet, and I suppose they deserve to be known by something other than..." he ducked behind his ship to look at a small plaque. "...Arspace Arwing IV 198710353." There was a chuckle all around at that. Abbey set things off by saying,

"Alright then, best name gets a cake on me!"

"You'll be sorry you said that." cracked Falco, elbowing his companion in the side. She looked at him with eyes shining with mirth, then scampered off a ways to look for a paper and pencil.

Falco was also thinking of names when a paper airplane struck him in the ear. He unfolded it irritably, but stopped when he saw the message.

_Dinner at eight? -Abbey_

Falco looked over at the otter and nodded. "On me," he mouthed, then looked back to his scratch pad with a feeling of- happiness? No, something deeper than that...

He swallowed suddenly when he caught James staring at him with a knowing glint in his eye. Flushing nearly scarlet, he put his head down and continued scratching away. He grinned as a name came to him, and he circled it brightly.

_GaleStorm_

Fox flicked his ear in thought, looking over at Krystal. The vixen's shoulder was next to his, and she was scratching a paw idly on the hard metal floor. Fox got up to find a cushion for the two of them and returned with it. Krystal smiled and showed him the name for her Arwing.

_Cerulean Blue_

Slippy fiddled with the wrench in his hands, pondering back to the days of the Lylat War. Those were the glory days, all right. How could he commend them? Then it came to him, a perfect joke. A reminder to the team of how he'd improved- and his own private jest upon the Star Fox method of Arwing repair, one used by no one else in the system. Very delicately, he wrote the following two words on his paper.

_Titanian Silver_

Fox swished his tail once more before he made his own decision. His delicate script graced the paper as he wrote in elegant lettering, a gemstone next to it:

_Krystal Fire_

Likewise, Abbey wrote another name upon her own paper, one she'd always liked since childhood. It had adorned every vehicle she'd had to date- at least, before she joined the military. But it still had its own ring to it, one she was happy to have once more.

_Diamond Star_

The _Legacy_ became Peppy's unclaimed ship, and James had scrawled the words _Ancient Fire_ upon his slip, a jest upon his own age and the ship. Just for fun, he scratched a rune beside the word fire, then rejoined the rest of the group, now in the center of the hangar. They cast their vote on a secret ballot, then waited as Slippy totaled the votes. His eyes widened. "No way!" he said, holding up a graph. Slippy and Falco were tied at two votes each, but Krystal had taken the cake with three. The vixen shrugged and grinned widely as Abbey looked at the clock and ran for the galley, calling, "Don't expect it today!"

Krystal looked mortified, then opened her maw wide as the others broke into laughter.

* * *

"Aquan cuisine?" asked Falco, looking up from the menu. "You eat this stuff?" 

Abbey sniffed. "I'll have you know that this is the finest restaurant that serves Fourtunan, Aquan, and Katinan food."

"I'll stick with Katinan." replied Falco, scanning the list again. "Cornerian 'cuisine' is essentially french fries and vegetable burgers. I like Katinan fish, but Aquan- well..."

"Hey, it's where most otters like me come from." said Abbey. She slid around the booth seat and stretched her footpaws. "I mean, come on. What else would you expect from a planet completely _covered_ with water?"

"Minus the four or five islands that make up the capital." retorted Falco.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hurry up and order- I don't want to starve."

"Fine then. Katinan salmon it is!"

"Finally!" said Abbey with false exasperation. "About time, too!"

"Oh, shut up." replied Falco playfully, raising a wing to place the order. As the waiter left, he watched closely as Abbey tried to engage in conversation. He watched the waiter divert to talk to someone outside, and he motioned to Abbey.

"Get out your cell." he said quietly, and then a grin returned to his face.

"What's this all about?" asked Abbey, getting out her phone as asked.

"Seven o' clock." replied Falco, jerking his head. Abbey looked back and paled slightly.

"No...they wouldn't chase us in _here_, would they?"

"You have no idea." grumbled Falco. "And I don't want to ruin dinner by running out."

"Well then...I've got an idea." replied Abbey. She flipped open the phone as the food came- and two reporters along with it, cameras in hand. Abbey winced as the flashes struck her eyes, and Falco's keen sight was nearly disabled with the intensity of the illuminations.

"I must protest against this! This is a _team _meeting!" said Falco sharply, standing up against the glare as the reporters began to talk, questions streaming at them like lasers.

"How long have you been with her?"

"Where did you meet?"

"How has your life been like?"

"Do you desire to protect her in combat?"

"How is he like? Most girls-"

While Falco continued bluffing and deflecting questions, Abbey was whispering frantically into her phone, which was beneath the table.

"Yeah, hurry, will you? We're being hammered here- come on, please?" She closed the transmission as the questions continued. Under two minutes later, there was a wild commotion at the front of the restaurant as a second hovercar zipped up and parked outside, the six remaining mercenaries piling out and rushing through the doors. Fox slipped in smoothly besides Falco, Abbey close to his other side as Slippy, Peppy, James, and Krystal slipped in from the other- though Krystal remained next to Fox. The said vulpine smiled broadly at the reporters.

"Ahem, sorry for the delay..." he said to the team. Then, to the reporters, "I'm sorry, but this is a confidential team meeting for discussion of strategies utilizing the new weaponry we have been given." He raised his paws to stay the flow of questions. "Now, now, we'll reveal everything you want to know in the next press conference. Until then, I must insist that you leave, or else I will terminate the rights to all and any interview contracts to your respective stations."

This sent most of the cameramen and reporters running for their vehicles, but several stayed at the egress and took a few more pictures before leaving, still chattering into their microphones.

Fox turned to face Abbey and Falco. "Well, we didn't eat anyway, and I was wondering where you two went." He grinned again. "Dinner date, huh? I should've thought of that. But hey, quick thinking. Good job, but man, those guys are annoying."

"Tell me about it." groaned Falco, plastering a wing over his face. "We'll hear all about it tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it. Don't wake me up, or I'll shoot you!" Abbey elbowed her friend as Fox seized a menu hungrily.

"Where've you all been, anyway?" asked Abbey.

"Spraying our names onto the new Arwings." said Fox with a grin. Then his face fell. "And filling out the paperwork..." he moaned. "Stacks and stacks of it."

"My paw's almost too sore to flip the pages her." said Krystal tiredly, wringing out the numb appendage as she turned the menu. "Zonessean?"

"Don't suggest it." said Fox. "The fish there hasn't tasted right since the Lylat War."

"Pollution?" asked Krystal, wistfully turning another page. "I'll go with a fruit salad and soup then."

"Mmm." replied Fox, scanning his own pages. "Ah, I'll try soup too. The Katinan Stew."

"Aquan Soup." said Krystal. "Seaweed and fish, along with some herbs for taste."

"Herb soup, also from Aquas." announced Slippy. "Something I grew up on."

"Before you got fat on french fries." countered Peppy, looking for something easy on the stomach. "I'll settle for a large garden salad."

The rest of the team placed their orders as Abbey and Falco dug into their own meals, unnoticed until now. The meal went on until late in the night, the team staying to talk long after finishing their meals, including desert. Even the maitre d' didn't dare throw them out- surely, it would have been disastrous for business. Still, he wiped his brow in relief when the team exited- he had been praying that he wouldn't be swarmed by celebrity chasers, and his plea had been answered.

* * *

"We'll leave you two to your business." said Krystal with a wink as the rest of the team got back in their large team hovercar. "Just be back to the Great Fox before 2300 hours, will you? Fox says we'll be getting a briefing then." 

"From a deranged Pepper?" asked Abbey, aghast.

"Eh, deranged or not, he's always good with troops and movements." countered Fox. "Don't stay up too late doing...stuff." Grinning at the flush rising in Falco and Abbey's faces, he turned and got into the car. Krystal slipped into the first passenger seat, while James, Peppy, and Slippy got into the back row. The car whined to life and shot off into the sunlit skies, soon disappearing amongst the haze of other vehicles.

"Bah, let's just follow them." said Falco after awhile, getting into his own hovercar. Abbey followed, grinning as the old hovercar started up with another signature bang. They set off after the rest of the team, not easily catching them, but still overtaking them before reaching the Great Fox.

* * *

"So, you're ready to fly a fighter again?" asked James, looking over Pigma. The pig waved an arm distractedly. 

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." he said. "Shall we fly?"

"Why, of course."

"Count me in." chimed in Peppy. "Let's go teach those whippersnappers what a _real_ team fights like."

"Agreed. No helping, Peppy. I don't want to learn their tricks from you before I see them."

* * *

The time was 2000 hours as eight Arwings rocketed into the sky, the two teams, old and new, headed by Krystal Fire and Ancient Fire, Peppy's old Arwing III following James with the Cerulean Blue falling into line behind Fox. One by one, the ships shot into the blackness and soared off towards a large field. The white ion streams faded from view as the teams moved into formation- then on a signal from Slippy, rushed towards each other, an explosion of light and sound to be observed for leagues around. 

Peppy pulled up sharply, then dove for the ground, shaking a stunned Falco. The hare banked hard to the right, wingtips skimming the ground, then braked and threw his ship into a barrel roll, deflecting shots from the avian and causing him to whiz by. Barely missing a beat, Falco spun around on the spot, his G-Diffuser System keeping him on an even keel as he fired back. Peppy took several hits before he flew straight up, escaping that particular engagement.

"Not gonna happen, pop." said Fox, leaning into his turn as his ship rolled viciously downwards, pulling an inverted somersault to throw off James. This time, however, the older vulpine was not to be denied.

"Pigma, Peppy, maneuver five!" he broadcasted, then moved into position. Fox suddenly found himself pinned from above, below, and from behind with deadly laser fire. The team leader rolled continuously to avoid sustaining critical damage, but he obviously couldn't keep it up for long. As Abbey and Falco soared in to take hits for Fox, the lasers on Peppy's ship abruptly failed with a flash.

"What's going on?" he demanded. He was greeted with a guffaw from Slippy.

"You left your computer mainframe open, old-timer!"

"Peppy, fix the problem, Pigma, get on that toad, now!" barked James, maneuvering behind Krystal, who somehow seemed to know his intentions- and banked sideways and braked. James shot by, missing her by only a few feet. The vixen fired a charge shot, prompting a system failure on the Ancient Fire.

Slippy typed away rapidly at his keyboard. Within seconds, Peppy's shields and engines were also shutting down. The hare flew away on his boosters, struggling for awhile before his systems came online once more, the hare being protected by Pigma. Toad and swine circled high above the main battle, engaging in a test of wit. Fingers slammed away at keys as the two technicians fought for digital control of the battle. The victor became clear when Pigma came spiraling out of the sky, shields gone. Slippy fired- Pigma's ship launched the red flares that indicated a simulated ship destruction.

"Damnit." groused the pig, flying off the field. "It's up to you two, now."

"Take a refresher course later." asked Peppy, coming in behind Slippy. Two shots in the perfect area rendered the toad unable to steer, and Slippy retired as well.

"Ah, shucks!" he complained before he was deleted from the HUB display. "Sorry, guys!"

"Learn to fly, Slip." shot back Falco. Abbey pulled in tight behind his wing, and the two turned sideways and shot past Peppy, pinning him once more. Krystal opened fire and Peppy was three steps away from falling when he opened fire with the simulated missiles, gaining enough time to fire a dud Nova Bomb. The explosion, expertly aimed, caused massive damage to the three other teammates, leaving only Krystal still airborne- along, of course, with Fox.

"Well, this is it now, isn't it?" asked James casually. He shot at Krystal's ship, but Fox rolled in and took the hits. "Just us four."

"Ya, boo! Go Fox!" shouted Slippy, still hovering on the sidelines. Fox looked his way with a grin, then snapped back to the battle as Krystal and Peppy engaged each other. Despite Krystal's telepathic abilities, she didn't react in time when James, now out from Fox's sights, opened fire. She retreated from the battle with an "I'm sorry, Fox!"

The vulpine gritted his teeth. This was a difficult situation, to be sure, but there had to be a way around it...

"_I fitted an EMP pulse onto these Arwings. It should help us later, but remember, it'll still knock out your own systems too."_

"Perfect." said Fox, remembering Slippy's words. Typical Slippy- he simply couldn't keep those paws off anything if it so much as had a microprocessing chip.

"What?" asked James. "What'd you say?"

"Just...this!" Deftly slipping in between the Legacy and the Ancient Fire, Fox shot out an EMP pulse. The blue wave struck Peppy's ship, but very narrowly missed Ancient Fire. Fox locked onto Peppy's disabled ship and fired.

"Endgame, Peppy!" he crowed. Peppy's ears drooped slightly.

"Alas, that's the end of me." he sighed, and he too left the field, joining the crowd of Arwings at the end of the field.

Fox gazed across the nose of his ship at his father. "Last ones standing, eh?" he joked, a light expression on his face.

James nodded. "You've grown strong, my son." he said. "But I'm still your father, and the son does not win easily!"

The two Arwings, Ancient Fire and Krystal Fire, rushed at each other. At the last second, both banked to one side, but by some fluke, they turned different ways- which, of course, meant they were traveling in the same direction. James seized his chance, then fired a charge shot and a dud bomb, simultaneously engaging the gattling gun in the nose. Fox's ship shuddered, then James finished it off with a full salvo.

"And he's down!" called Slippy. His eyes were positively bulging as he deactivated the camera at the field's far side, picking it up magnetically and sealing it in the miniscule cargo bay. "Time is 2200 hours! Let's head on home!"

"And get that cake!" added Krystal. Abbey groaned to the tune of laughter as the veritable armada made for the Great Fox.

It was over a well-baked cake at 0100 hours that the team finally got around to listen to Pepper's message. Fox's frown deepened when he realized what Wolf had said was correct. They were now a pop-culture icon, almost too valuable to be risked in combat. Thus ran the message.

"I want you all to investigate energy readings in Sector O, as well as conduct a patrol of the Lylat System, starting and ending at Corneria. I'm not going to give you any particular itinerary, but try and fly over the cities of Lylat. It may help morale and mobilization methods. Star Wolf is scouting Grallian defenses now. Do not hesitate to engage any enemy forces you find attempting to make a flanking attack. Pepper, out!"

The transmission cut, leaving the team lounging around in the room. Abbey looked excited.

"Here's a chance to tour all of Lylat!" she cried, looking around eagerly. Falco slapped a wing over his face- Slippy fiddled with his paws.

"We kinda did that in the Lylat Wars." he pointed out. Then he grinned. "But then again, I guess a 'vacation' would do us all some good. We can do some training on the way!" This was met with a chorus of groans, then everyone downed a last glass of milk or drink before finally stumbling to their rooms and going to sleep.

* * *

It was thousands of miles away from Lylat where the Cornerian Wolf plodded onwards, its engines burning a bright blue. A huge red flag in the middle of enemy territory. The ship leapt into hyperspace as a Grallian patrol ship flew by. Not for nothing had the Star Wolf team been on the top three and four spots on Lylat's most wanted.

* * *

**Featured Biography: Abbey Rimstead**

Name: Abbey Rimstead

Gender: Female

Age: 18 ½

Occupation: Mercenary

Description: A cheerful otter of merely 18 years, Abbey is a Cornerian Advanced Flight Academy graduate who left the school with a specialty in tactics, medicine, and capital-ship flight. Sociable, hard-working, and determined, she was a popular room and classmate during her years at the academy.

Like many others, however, entering the Flight Academy was not the best idea. Without the prerequisite achievements to enter the fields of medicine or engineering, and without the funds to further advance herself, Abbey became something of a freelance pilot, eventually not even that. Having sold her ship to support herself, and with no jobs had she even had the ship, she was forced into an endless cycle of selling and loaning to survive.

Eventually, she hit rock-bottom in the city slums, whereupon she was caught by a gang and held by them for several weeks. Scarred emotionally, she eventually escaped when a Cornerian Police raid killed about half the gang members. Boarding temporarily with a friend, she searched the newspapers for anything that could be a career. The military seemed disposed against her, so she ruled that out.

It was merely by chance that she ran into Fox McCloud one day. She had been walking past some of the military lots when she'd spied the Great Fox. Interested, she moved closer, even up to the security fences. She'd marveled at the beauty of the Great Fox II, then left wistfully, a pang in her heart.

Later on, she'd been driving her friend's hovercar when a pursuit nearby caught her up in its advance. She'd seen the patrol vehicle behind what looked to be a gang vehicle, and dismissing further consequences, she rammed the side of the opposing hovercar- something they obviously hadn't expected. The car went careening sideways, narrowly missing a public transport containing the hero of Corneria- Fox McCloud himself.

Upon watching the news the next day, he'd learned the name of the daring driver who'd been responsible for the apprehension of the criminals. Watching the media footage, he also realized that had she not rammed the hovercar, it would have hit the tram car he'd been riding. Intrigued at who would have the nerve to try such a thing, he looked up the otter's background- and found almost exactly the kind of resume he looked for in his pilots.

There were the marks in every subject that Slippy and Falco excelled in, and Peppy had done well in. There were the marks from her superiors and examiners, and knowing of Peppy's advancing age, he decided to take her on as a combat pilot for the Arwing and the Great Fox. It was an enormous windfall for the young girl, and she seized the opportunity with almost unparalleled glee.

Although she was intensely hounded by the media for the next few days, she counted the days eagerly until she would board the Great Fox- and get the job she'd always wanted.

Abbey is of average height, on par with Fox and Krystal, taller than Slippy and Peppy, but shorter than Falco. Her fur is a typical dark brown with lighter fur on her underbelly. Well-trimmed whiskers and green eyes complete her appearance, along with her typical clothing, usually a modest shirt and pants combination.


	19. o Book I o Lylat

**Black Skies**

* * *

**Book I: Lylat**

* * *

"FRIENDS TODAY" 

"FRIENDS IN THE FUTURE"

"FRIENDS FOREVER" -British Admiral Warrender in a telegram to German Admiral Tirpitz, shortly before World War I.

* * *

_Description_: The Star Fox team is sent off on a war patrol around the Lylat System, which is as much of a publicity tour as a sentry patrol. Several various forrays by the Grallians are fended off, but the real material is gained through a final understanding of Lylat's mysteries.

* * *

_Author's Note_: This is the first real book of Black Skies, intended to give the reader a view of the war at home, but also the first complete view of Lylat since Star Fox 64. What has happened since the Lylat War? What has grown, and what has been lost? What has changed, and stayed the same? We will learn more of the members of Star Fox, now free of the hardships of war (for the most part) and the bogging action of their other comrades. 

Yet it will not be a quiet voyage- but one that will ultimately hold fruit at the end, as well as a striking revelation.

* * *

_Featured Biographies_

-Falco Lombardi

-Slippy Toad

-Wolf O' Donnel


	20. Shadows of the Past

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Thus, the first chapter of Lylat, a book of discovery and revelation, of history and honor. To master the waves of war, the turmoil within must be laid to rest first. Mysteries still lie unsolved and undiscovered within Lylat, mysteries that must come to light- or destroy the system. 

SF Ghost, I spot the old review me/review you trick! Still, thanks for the review. It might interest you to know that I don't, in fact, proofread at all. Reading my own work tends to embarrass me, and either way, as I've discovered, I'm rather uninclined to change things once I've laid them down. I do, however, do a brief check once I publish it, then if I find something that's a grevious error, I export the chapter and make the fix.

Some of you may have noticed the changes made to the Foreword. It's all in the Technology of Black Skies section. I'd simply like to explain the many weapons of the story, along with technology, such as the Grallian Field Rift and the Cornerian Gravity-Diffusion System. Stuff like that, along with other things like clicks, which, by the way, was inspired by my tinkering with Microsoft Calculator. If you want to know what I mean, put up the calculator, punch in a gigantic number (1,000,000,000 is nice), then subtract one, push enter, then put a stapler or something else that's heavy onto the enter key. Then watch the show!

Now, glad to see you're back, V-Starfox! I reviewed your story (I think), and I must say that it's coming along nicely. On a similar note, notfromEarth7, I've completely read your other story, Star Fox: Enter the Dragon. If I must say something, it's far better than it's sequel. For Star Fox: Futureshock, I'd really suggest that you spellcheck a bit more. It's a wee bit hard to read, though as I'm writing this on WordPad at the moment, I can't talk.

A few more planned stories coming up are as follows: _The Mary Jane_, tale of the passenger liner that gave Therald Pepper's _CSS Valinspur_ its nickname, _A Lost Legacy_, the story of James McCloud and Pigma Dengar over the years following Star Fox 64, and _Through Unseen Eyes, _the chronicles of a noble group of soldiers who kept the notion of honor alive during the Aparoid War, when all seems lost and the system hopeless. With absolutely no reviews or views of _The Truth of War_, my Lord of the Flies fanfiction, I've decided that I may discontinue it. Ah, well, that's just one thing that didn't work out, eh?

* * *

**Chapter 17** **Shadows of the Past**

* * *

"This is Fox McCloud, requesting launch clearance for the Great Fox on Dock Alpha Five." radioed Fox, hailing the base. His teammates all sat around in their seats- only Peppy was pacing the deck as Abbey ran through multiple pre-launch diagnostics and checks. The comm. screem flickered and came to life a few seconds later, displaying a cheetah in a grey traffic uniform 

"Permission denied, Great Fox. Please wait a minute to allow for the Alheon to relocate to her normal dock."

"Heard and acknowledged." said Fox, settling back into his seat lightly. "We'll wait."

"Thank you, mister McCloud." replied the cheetah, looking grateful. The transmission terminated and the hologram showed only screen snow. Fox reached over and shut it off as Abbey completed the routine checklist.

"All systems are green." she said, settling into the pilot's chair further up. This was located to the right and below the leader's chair, and as the otter settled before the console, the traffic control officer came up once more.

"Great Fox, you are now clear for launch. Please proceed to access point three, and make your transit there."

"Affirmative." said Abbey clearly, then she fired up the main engines. The Great Fox II was briefly filled with a low humming noise as the three powerplants in the stern started to glow, spitting out a spew of ions which condensed into the trademark ion flame. The ship shook slightly as the girl checked the six camera moniters before her, each showing a different view- below the ship, above it, to the front, the back, and to both sides. The proximity alarm flashed as Abbey activated the hover engines, and the ship lifted off the ground, a grand spectacle to see.

"Bringing the retro-rockets online." she murmmured to herself. The four jets mounted on each of the wings sprang to life, purple ion flames flaring from their muzzles. These impacted onto the four blast pads on the far wall, and the Great Fox coasted out of the hangar. The two lower wings lowered on their tracks as a massive array of hydraulics and cam rods moved in harmony. There was a loud click throughout the ship as the moving wings locked into place, but even as this noise faded, a whine that gathered in pitch and intensity echoed throughout the bridge as the engines reached full power.

"This is Great Fox, proceeding to access point three." reported Abbey.

"This is Corneria Base. You are cleared for atmospheric transit."

"Acknowledged, and thank you."

Now, the ship's engines roared as the ship tilted upwards and thrust her prow into the air. Smoothly sliding into cruising speed, the ship was catapulted from the access point and the taxiways, soaring through the blue skies like a great dove. The shining white armor plate, lovingly polished and cared for, shone as the sun glinted off its surface. Soon, the view from the bridge faded from a deep blue to the pitch black of sky. Falco stirred."So, what was that all about?" he asked. "We've never been stopped for launch before."

"The man was panicking." said Krystal, gazing at the ceiling. "The Alheon had just finished repair, as did the Hound. Both were moving back to their respective hangars, and along with numerous fighter traffic...well," she said, grinning, "he had his paws full. He's got a headache too."

"If the Cornerian Army and Star Fleet, not even counting the Navy just upgraded to the new computer systems," began Slippy, "we'd have gotten out immediately!"

"They don't give us precedence, Slippy." said Peppy, elbowing his younger charge. "The tower operaters do. If you'd bothered to look at the cue, there were twenty other ships that were the same size or larger trying to take off. Usually, we'd have been somewhere in the last five. That cheetah was nice enough to give us one of the lead spots."

"Still," grumbled the toad, "I don't like waiting."

"You just want to get back to Aquas." accused Krystal.

"Well, yeah!" said the toad defensively. Their argument soon descended into a minor spat as some of the others looked out the windows. Fox gazed ahead, the stars sliding towards the ship and around it. The vulpine drank in the mesmerizing sight, looking out dreamily. Peppy only took a brief glance before he resumed pacing the deck. He was somewhat distressed at being left behind- at least, by James and Pigma.

"They need _some _star pilots." he muttered to himself, adjusting his spectacles. Feeling suddenly exhausted, the hare opened the doors to the lift and left the bridge, going quietly so as not to disturb the others. Falco leaned back and put his feet up on his console, closing his eyes contently.

Peppy wasn't on the bridge this time as Slippy reared one webbed paw back and kicked Falco's seat with all his might. It happened to be one of ten loose chairs on board. The resulting squawk shattered Fox's reverie and knocked Abbey and Krystal clean off their chairs.

* * *

"Where's Slippy?" asked Abbey casually, walking down the hall with Krystal at her side. 

"Doubtless he's hiding from Falco." replied the vixen. She shut her eyes as she cast her mind about. "He's hiding in one of the engine compartments."

"Poor guy." said Abbey with a giggle. "He needs to get rid of some stress. Seriously, and in a better way than fixing that confounded robot."

"He _is_ the only guy without a girl on board." said Krystal slyly. Abbey gagged as she quickly continued. "I'm not trying to dig at ya, it's just fun."

"Right." said Abbey, unconvinced. "Fun. Even the academy dorms weren't this bad."

"I'd beg to differ." said Fox, falling into step next to the two females. Abbey goggled as Krystal sighed.

"I do wish you'd stop using those passages. And eavesdropping is not polite!" As she said so, she reached up and tweaked the vulpine's snout. He swatted her paw in return, smiling playfully.

"So," he said, still smiling warmly, "who's the lucky guy?" Then he tilted his head knowingly, not even waiting for her response. "Falco. Of course." Ignoring her spluttering protests, he went on. "Nah, we know already. I'm just having fun. And even if we didn't, you could barely hope to hide anything on a ship this small." So saying, he produced a PDA and projected the picture from days past onto the wall.

Abbey lunged at her team leader as Krystal leaned against the wall, laughing merrily. Fox hit the deck with a muffled thump as the PDA went skittering away across the floor. Vulpine, vixen, and otter dove at the device as the sound of running paws echoed through the halls.

* * *

"Not fair." muttered Abbey, some time later. "Completely _not_ fair." She struggled for a moment, then relaxed with a sigh. "Will you _please_ let my paws go?" 

"Now that you're not trying to kill the PDA, fine." said Fox, letting go of the otter's paws. Krystal rolled her eyes.

"Alright you two." she said, firing up the lounge's television and a game console. "Who's up for a game?"

"I am!" chimed Fox and Abbey simultaneously. Krystal laughed.

_They both still act like children..._ she thought. It wasn't the first time that she was glad that she was the only telepath on board.

"Fine then." she said, scrolling through several menus and selecting a game. The game beeped at her until she reached the desired screen. "How about a mission simulation? Katina?"

"You're on." challenged Fox, sitting down next to Krystal. Abbey sat on the vixen's other side as they selected their character- inevitably, themselves- and entered the main screen.

It was only several minutes later when a victorious Fox left the team lounge, punching the air triumphantly. A very dismayed Krystal and Abbey sat on the couch, still stunned from the quick loss. This didn't last long, for Falco soon came into the room and dragged Abbey off for another round of simulator training. Krystal had to suppress a giggle as the two left.

* * *

"Estimated time of arrival- four minutes." whirred ROB. 

"About time." replied Fox, grabbing the microphone for the ship's loudspeakers. "Alright, team, we're about to land on Aquas. I'd like all of you up on the bridge within two minutes- that means you, Peppy!"

A chorus of muted laughter floated throughout the ship as the Great Fox cruised into Aquan airspace.

"All I can say is," began Fox, "I'm glad I don't have to take the Blue Marine this time around."

"Aww, come on!" protested Slippy. "It wasn't that bad!"

"It was slow." pointed out Fox. He reached over to a computer and flicked on the moniter, panning through menus until he found the file he wanted. The screen blossomed into a frightening image- that provided by the camera pod the Blue Marine had been towing behind it...

* * *

_Eight years prior..._

* * *

_"Launch track initiated." intoned ROB._

_"Alright, Fox. Just follow your onboard scanners, they'll lead you to the bio weapon!" chattered Slippy excitedly, settling himself behind a long-gone terminal. "Make sure you keep your sensors online to check for poisons and pressure."_

_"Affirmative, Slippy!" replied Fox. "Blue Marine, launching!"_

_The entire ship shuddered as the Blue Marine exploded from the hangar bay, a massive plume of dust and loose debris clouding the water. From within the submarine, there was a shattering of glass as the starboard headlight exploded from the shock of submerging. The other flickered and went offline shortly thereafter. Slippy was then confronted by Fox's angry visage._

_"Slippy!" stormed the vulpine. "What were you thinking when you installed these?"_

_"I, er...well, you've still got the illumination torpedoes!" pointed out the toad, looking frantic as he punched buttons. Fox groaned and rolled his eyes._

_"Give me the skies any day!" called Falco, launching from the Great Fox in his Arwing. "I'm above you, Fox, so let me know if you need laser support."_

_"Nu-uh, Falco!" said Slippy. "Your lasers will refract when they hit the water, and they'll lose about half of their power. You'd do more harm than good blazing away at the ocean, and your Nova Bombs will just blow up on the surface."_

_"Don't tell me what I can't do!" warned the avian. Silence fell over the Star Fox team as they watched their leader's progress onscreen._

_"If there's one good thing about this submarine," began Fox, "I'd have to say it's the camera pod. It's a life saver."_

_Instead of replying, Slippy watched the scanners, then shouted, "Look out behind you!"_

_Fox turned in his seat, looking out the rear viewport. With a cry of "What the heck?" he rolled the sub violently to port. The sub grounded sideways in the bottom mud as an anglerfish, dwarving the sub with its size, swam past. Fox gunned the port thrusters and then fired the guns, blowing the fish to pieces._

_"Gee, I could've used that warning a bit earlier." he groused, dusting himself off and throwing the ship forwards. He coasted onwards through a field of colored dots, through a narrow ravine, then through a rock field. Having dodged the many bio-bombs in the ravine and taking several hits from the falling boulders, he checked his sensors as they beeped at him. Slippy confirmed their readout-_

_"Toxin levels are rising! The bio weapon should be right in front of you!"_

_Fox fired a torpedo, and the entire seafloor was lit up for miles around as it blew up on a tough shell. Fragments of the covering flew everywhere, along with a cloud of barnacles that had encrusted themselves upon the armor._

_"I've found the bio weapon!" said Fox, stating the obvious. He looked at the great thing before him- something that resembled a clam. A thick layer of barnacles had attatched themselves to the mollusk's shell, forming a tough armor that would tear open the hull of any vessel. The shells parted to reveal a single, hideous eye, then it slammed shut, ramming the Blue Marine backwards. Fox picked himself up just in time to watch three tubes atop the clam spit out sea worms._

_"Shield analysis complete!" shouted Slippy, even as Fox was blowing the first worms out of the water. The standard gauge filled up on the left side of Fox's viewscreen as the vulpine fired furiously at the columns atop the shell. A torpedo claimed the first- a volley of lasers, the second. Then the shell opened, the single eye glaring at Fox. _

_"Shoot the columns!" screamed Slippy. Fox opened fire as a stream of pearls shot from both sides of the clam. Fox dodged the return volley and shattered the pillar, severing the muscle. Bio-luminescent cells all over the clam flashed a brilliant red in pain as the clam pulled itself shut once more. Before more sea worms could spawn, Fox blew off the final breeding tube. The shell opened again, and a thicker cloud of pearls came forth. They drifted through the water in a curving arc, many hitting the seabed with thuds behind Fox. Fox fired a torpedo into this veritable mist of gems, shattering many, but still not enough. Proof of that came when the Blue Marine shook violently as three pearls slammed into its superstructure._

_"Shields at 60!" he reported, opening fire at the other column. It succumbed within seconds, but in a final show of defiance, the clam spewed forth enough pearls to completely mask it. Again and again, the submarine shuddered as it took hits. The camera pod flickered as it too took damage, but it still faithfully broadcast its images._

_"Shields gone." said Fox, sounding unnaturally calm. Slippy and Peppy held their breaths- Falco swore and nearly dove his Arwing into the sea. Then, a spiraling torpedo struck the creature squarly in the eye. There was a tremendous flash, then the clam blew apart._

_"Mission accomplished." said Fox after an agonizing pause. "The armor's a bit damaged, but I'm fine otherwise."_

_"Get up here, Fox!" said Peppy, gathering his voice. "Come on, get up!"_

_"Ah, in a bit, Peppy." replied the vulpine, cruising the Blue Marine to the sea bed. "I think I know how to raise our fourtunes a bit."_

* * *

Fox turned around and pointed at a case in the back of the room, which encased a pearl easily larger than a basketball. Its surface gleamed with a rainbow hue of colors, a lusterous sheen for such a murderous object. Fox nodded at it, grinning loosely. 

"I recovered about 50 of the monsters. I could barely get back into the docking bay with all that, and even then I persuaded the others to let me go back another time. After the war, we sold about 150, and we kept the other 50 for ourselves. Four of them were engraved into trophies, the others, we keep for emergency funding and decoration. Some are serving as lights- they're transparant in certain conditions. I'm rather fond of them."

"Stupid." rebuked Slippy, elbowing the vulpine. "That little stunt was why we couldn't use the Marine for Zoness. You caused too much structural damage."

"It kept us afloat during the Sauria mission, did it not?" asked Fox, chuckling a little at his own joke. "Ooop, take a look, we're done with reentry. Let's make a loop, then take the rest of the day off."

* * *

For only the second time, a Great Fox graced the ocean skies as it circled the planet once, flying over the island capital to thunderous applause. As they were leaving, the Aquan Navy steamed battleships into the harbor and released a earthshaking 100-gun salute, one the team could hear even as they flew off. The Great Fox returned the gesture with a two-gun salvo, and it was with a cheered heart that the team left the harbor. It was miles away in peaceful seas that the Great Fox splashed down and shut down its engines. The team piled out the entrance hatch for a day in Aquas's famous oceans, a perfect blue with the sun shining down upon it. Sparkling hues littered the sea as most of the team took a swim, Peppy lounging instead on a sun-bathed wing. 

Not a one saw Slippy prep the Blue Marine and fire the old sub from the hangar, the last remnant of the original Star Fox team still in working order.


	21. Vigilance

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Ah, so the story moves on. Ever on, ever on, as they say. Our heroes have made Aquas after bypassing Sector Y. However, when certain findings warrant a return, things may be thrown into chaos as Star Fox pays for its overconfidence. 

Well, I've passed both the 30 review and the 60,000 word mark. I can't say what I'm feeling. Honestly, I'm a bit apathetic right now. Still, I can drag myself to write this for I have little to do at the moment without doing my homework. Yeah, so I'm not too responsible. I also just went on a school trip down to Atlanta, and if you ever swing by the Medieval Times Theathre, I'd suggest it to you. It's quite an amazing show!

Yea, I know I'm line-break happy. Deal with it, there're a lot of point-of-view changes. You'll be thanking me later!

* * *

**Chapter 18 Vigilance**

* * *

"Time to check out that scanner reading." murmured Slippy. The Blue Marine made its way through the now-clear waters of Aquas, visibility stretching for a good two miles in any direction. It was remarkably clear when the planet's history had been taken into account. 

"ROB, what was the composition of the detected object?"

"Unidentified object was approximately 50 percent durasteel, 25 percent titanium, 10 percent chrome, and 15 percent nickel."

"That's not right..." said Slippy, looking at his console with alarm. "That sounds...that sounds like a space ship!"

* * *

Upon on the surface, the team first realized something was amiss as they began to drift away from the Great Fox. Almost imperceptible at first, the drift soon increased to an alarming rate. 

"What's going on?" shouted Fox, turning into the current and fighting it. "Navigation shows no currents around here!"

"I don't know!" replied Krystal. She cut the water with a graceful breast stroke, but that too was not enough. Still the pair crept inexorably backwards, and Fox stopped swimming.

"It's useless!" he said. "We won't make the Great Fox like this! We'd drown first!" Krystal nodded in agreement before adding her own comment.

"We might be able to use my staff!" she said, reaching a paw above the waves. She kicked harder to stay afloat as her paw clenched. A low hum filled the air, then there was an echoing clang in the distance.

"Your staff must've gotten caught on something!" called Falco, making his way over to the twosome. "But I have to get out of the water, and fast!"

"What's wrong?" asked Fox. "You were fine earlier!"

Treading water, the avian replied. "My feathers are going to start dragging me down before long. That's why I kept close to the ship!" As he finished, a sleek head popped out from beneath the water.

"If you're talking about the current, I'll tell you what it is- it's an undertow." she said in a grim voice. "And its strong, at that."

"The only such currents that could be caused would be made by a ship." Fox mused. "But I haven't seen anything. Has anyone?" There was a chorus of negatives, then Krystal snapped her paws- not quite literally, but the gesture was understood.

"Slippy! Did anyone check for the Blue Marine?"

"Of course!" said Falco. "Maybe he wanted to visit someone- or something?"

"Not the clam, he saw that a few times." asserted Fox. "He's not going in the right direction either, if it is him. The Great Fox's prow was pointing due south. We're going northwards..."

"Distance- 40." said ROB. Slippy hit the console in frustration.

"I know that, ROB, so shut up for a moment!"

"Affirmative."

"Seriously..." said the toad with a grumble. He flicked on the powerful searchlights, having gone below the bright surface depths. Still his propellers churned the surfaced. Still, they dragged the rest of the team along.

* * *

"Are those...lights?" asked Abbey, having swum down a ways before returning. "They're pretty bright." 

"Must be the Blue Marine's searchlights." replied Fox, looking down himself. Very faintly, he could make out the two sweeping beams. Then they fixed on something far below and moved no further. The current died for a moment, then began to circle.

"He's coming up!" announced the otter awhile later. The sea began to froth and bubble as the Blue Marine blew its ballast tanks and shot towards the surface. The submarine broke the surface with a splash, apparently keen upon making the return trip via the surface, a far quicker venue than submerged travel. Then the hatch flipped open and Slippy popped out. But instead of apologizing for dragging his friends along, he made an alarming statement.

"A Grallian fighter! I'm sure of it! There's a Grallian fighter down there!"

* * *

"They've _what?_" screamed General Pepper. The aide before him shrunk back, then came forward and handed Pepper a tablet. The hound scanned it anxiously for a moment, then slammed the device onto the table with such force that it broke. 

"Sir...that was a-"

"I don't care how much it cost! Those stupid fools...they will regret this!" So saying, the general stalked out of the room, shoving the aide into a wall as he crashed through the doors.

"What ships are available to scramble?" he snapped, entering the situation room. The tumult in the room had ceased as the general came in. Then it started again slowly as various technicians came up to Pepper to give him the bad news. Not a single ship was able to launch for a good amount of time. The hound banged a tabletop with his fist in frustration, then reached for the communications console.

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?" asked a raccoon. The man looked at the viewport anxiously, scanning the skies ahead. "Will they provide an escort?" 

A falcon smiled grimly. "The Merchant Council has seen to that. Most of our ships launched with us. The Cornerian Army had no choice but to open a hole in the shields for us to pass through, lest Corneria lose all of her merchant ships."

"But an escort?" pressed the raccoon. "We'll never make it to Macbeth if we don't have an escort!"

"Your point?" said the falcon, twirling a ring on his wing. "Star Fox has seen to it that no Grallian has penetrated Lylat's borders. We'll simply take the warp in Sector Y to Sector X, then from Sector X to Sector Z. From there, it's only a short hop to Macbeth. We'll be fine. Nothing can intercept ships taking the warp."

"Your funeral." muttered the officer direly, then he left the bridge. The captain of the ship, Eremund Redsfeather preened his wings and resumed heckling his crew, most of which were convinced that this was a suicide mission.

* * *

It was some minutes later when an angry General Pepper refused to provide an escort. Eremund told him shortly that if the merchant fleet was destroyed, it would be his fault, and he terminated the link. 

"Make way for Sector Y." he ordered. "And be snappy about it."

* * *

"How did we forget to check Sector Y?" said Fox in dismay. "The place is so full of space junk that's a perfect hiding place from scanners- and eyes." 

"Keep in mind that the wreckage of the Royal takes up more space than most of the junk in Sector Y." said Slippy, reaching over to another console and flicking a switch. "Long range scanners have been activated..."

The team was at their usual positions- Falco was peering over a large radar map that was constantly updating itself, Slippy stood at the system status consoles, and Abbey was sitting at the pilot's chair. Krystal was standing at the ship defense system, while Fox and Peppy sat at the highest point on the bridge, the captain's seat and a similar chair for Peppy. From there, the vulpine had to watch and analyze streams of data coming in from every scanner on the ship. It was a tedious and boring affair.

* * *

"Long range communications are still messed up because of the shields." said a technician as Pepper tried to contact Star Fox for the umpteenth time. "Opening the breach caused a massive electronic discharge into space-" 

"There's another thing I'd like to know." said Pepper in annoyance. "Why did you fools open the shields? The crews would've mutinied if they'd known that there was no opening."

"I-" began the scientist. He never finished his sentence as an alarm blared. The man rushed over to a console and screamed, "Contacts detected in Sector Y!"

* * *

"Funny." said Kate, the communications officer aboard the Nebula. It was the largest merchant ship in the fleet. "I could've sworn I just heard an all-points alert...but it's gone now. Must've been a weak signal." 

"Ignore it." said Eremund. "It's nothing."

"Should we change course?" asked a lizard.

"No, tell the fleet to remain steady. We continue onwards."

* * *

"Fox, the engines are having some problems. I'll have to shut them down to make a few quick repairs." 

"I can see that, Slippy." replied the vulpine. "Do what you have to do, but try and keep us moving forwards, at least."

"Boosters then, alright." The toad scurried off as he said this, and his pattering was soon inaudible as the Great Fox plunged onwards. There was a smooth deceleration, and then the ship began to slow, only gradually in the vacuum of space.

* * *

"Sir, it looks like our scanner buoy was destroyed." noted a technician as his panel went dark. "I'm uploading the last sent images and data right now." So saying, the man began to scan a stream of numbers and words, key commands that even General Pepper had not mastered, despite his long tenure as general. 

For the less technologically able officers in the room, the appearance of hard data on the mainscreen was a relief. A photo was enlarged and enhanced to show a sleek ship of a dark color, streamlined in a way that suggested that it was used also in aquatic areas. Two small diving rudders on a coning tower reinforced this belief. What drew attention from the officers were the two elaborate point-defense turrets on the main deck, along with two smaller ones set into the hull on both sides. Despite these formidable weapons, a commanding aspect of the entire ship was plain- the four large missile launchers mounted in the bow and stern. There were low murmurs in the room as a line of technical data paraded along the bottom of the screen.

"I remember these," said Pepper. "Weren't they in the report awhile ago? The ones responsible for those destroyed cruisers?"

"Yes sir." said an aide. "A single one of these ships demolished two large cruisers and their fighter compliments. These ships carry only limited shields, but they have cloaking devices and heavy armor- and they're very fast. We've been calling them wolf ships."

"A fitting name." mused Pepper quietly. "Strong, fast, and stealthy. Yes, that is a name befitting of these ships. Now, however, is not the time to think of names. How many ships were spotted on the probe?"

"Conservative estimates point at approximately ten wolf ships in the area."

"They're sailing into a massacre." breathed Pepper. "Prep a destroyer and a few fast cruisers. I want fighters on the scene as soon as possible. Alert Star Fox to intercept."

A communications officer looked up at that moment. "We received a report from Slippy Toad, indicating that he found wreckage of a Grallian fighter on the Aquas seabed. The wreck was made only recently- the toad estimates within the last 24 hours."

"Send them a response to make for Sector Y with all due speed." said Pepper, then he sat down in his chair. "Stupid merchants."

"Long range transmissions are still jammed, sir."

* * *

"There must have been a large task force deployed." said Slippy. "We've received no reply from Corneria in an obscene amount of time, so I'm guessing they opened the shields to scramble a task force, something that would briefly knock out communications further than planet length away." 

"Either way, we've done all we could." said Fox in a firm voice. "Abbey, let's bring the engines back online."

"Roger." came the reply. With a whine, the engines refired and the Great Fox leapt forwards once more to the tune of tapped keys.

"I have positive contacts on radar, dead ahead." said a worried officer on the Nebula. "Do you really want to make the Sector Y jump, captain?"

"Yes, yes." said Eremund. "Pay it no mind. Doubtless, it is just space junk." The captain kept his doubts to himself as the convoy moved onwards.

* * *

"We still can't get ahold of those merchants!" yelled an officer. 

"Scrambled ships are suffering from a lack of space!" called another. General Pepper shook his head and barked orders left and right, trying to speed up the launch of fighters. The Streak Birds soon took off and their dreadnought began its sojourn to Sector Y.

* * *

"Contacts ahead confirmed as Grallian ships." said the technical officer flatly, looking at Eremund. "You've lead us into an ambush." He was knocked off his seat by the furious outburst from the falcon. 

"Stupid idiot! Of course I haven't! All we have to do is make the jump! Signal the rest of the fleet to plow through!"

This was already being down, mostly by the more sensible traders who realized that their thin ships would not last a chase and break away. Several made the jump in flashes of green light- several exploded into flame, hunted by unseen attackers.

"Bring the ship around to port! Head for the warp gate!" ordered Eremund. The ship began to move to the left in a zigzag path to shake off attacks. The first few turns went without incident, as did the next few. Then an electrifying call from the navigation officer sent the bridge crew into a panic.

"We're missing stays!"

* * *

"Slip, can't this thing move any faster?" groused Fox, leaning back on his seat. "When are we supposed to arrive?"

"In about half an hour, Fox." said Slippy.

"The engines are already at maximum." added Abbey. "In fact, they've gone well past their design specifications." Falco tipped a hand to Slippy, who turned greener and turned away. Fox was about to turn back to his console when Peppy adjusted his spectacles to peer at a console before them.

"Incoming communication." he murmured, accepting the transmission. Falco was opening his beak when he heard the message.

"This is an all-frequency distress call! MG5901, mayday, we are hit and losing air rapidly, repeat, we are-" the call was cut off abruptly, leaving only static. Hundreds of other such calls began to flood the monitor as Falco pointed something out.

"Yo Foxie, we've got company!"

"Slippy, bring up a data reading." said Fox, already getting out of his chair. "Falco, identify the number of targets. Krystal, bring up the ship's automated turrets. Everyone, once you're done, meet me in the hangar. Now, move, move, move!"

So saying, the vulpine dashed from the room as the others scrambled to their jobs. Abbey and Krystal left almost immediately, leaving Falco to call over the intercom, "Ten of them!" as Slippy left the room as well, waving a hurried printout.

* * *

"Prepping Arwings!" said Fox, disconnecting all the energy lines as he ran down the line. "What I wouldn't give for the new radiation chargers." 

"They're slower, Fox!" called Abbey, running into the hangar. Slippy waddled in with a very winded Krystal, the former quickly opening the cockpits of the spacecraft and booting up the main computers.

"Two minutes till we're set!"

* * *

"Refire the port engine!" said Eremund in a shaking voice. The raccoon from before flicked a switch twice. A loud roar filled the ship, then lapsed into silence once more. 

"Refire failed! We're still missing stays!" he replied, keeping his voice level with effort. "We've veered off the flight course!"

"Hard to starboard!" rapped out Eremund, unaware that had the ship stayed on course, that was what it would've done. He pointed out the windshield. "Look!"

There in the distance, visible only because of the Nebula's searchlights, stood a Grallian wolf ship. The sleek vessel turned, then a massive tongue of flame shot from its bow as it fired a missile. The crew watched with breathless anticipation as a silvery missile shot closer and closer, then veered overhead. There was a collective sigh of relief.

"He's firing again!" screamed Kate. All eyes were riveted on the ship as it fired a second missile. This too missed, but it barely cleared the long deck in front of the bridge. There was silence, then another call from the raccoon.

"I can't control her! We're going to be hit!"

"Refire the engines! Take evasive action!" screamed Eremund.

"Can't! Engines are losing power!"

"He's firing again!"

Everyone on the deck was thrown to the ground as a missile struck the ship, exploding with an incandescent flash of light.

Grallian wolf ships carried a special type of missile, one without a guidance system. Because there was more room in the missile, this led to a far greater explosive warhead- and much greater speed. As the missile struck the Nebula, it ripped a colossal hole in the ship's side. The resulting explosion nearly broke the ship's back, and many crew members threw their paws over their heads as various items went careening around the room.

* * *

"Arwings prepped and ready!" said Slippy, closing his cockpit. All around him, the others were doing the same. 

"Remember guys," began Fox, "protect those merchant ships!" No more was said as five Arwings shot from the hangar with breathtaking speed, leaving the chamber empty mere seconds later.

* * *

"Critical damage to sections III, IV, and V!" reported Kate, glancing at a damage control center. "Breaches in the last two! Engines are failing rapidly!" 

"We won't make the jump with the ship in this condition." said the raccoon grimly. "We'll have to ditch."

"Where!" yelled Eremund. "There's nowhere nearby!"

"Pull yourself together, man!" barked the raccoon sharply. The dislikeable captain sat instead in his chair, slumping over in something approximating a nervous breakdown.

"Fine then." said the raccoon contemptuously. "Alright, someone, find out if the escape pods are still operational."

"Jack, they aren't." came a voice. "Most of the ones on the port side were blown to pieces, and many of the others took concussive damage."

"What about the loading transports?"

"We might...maybe..." began the other officer, but then the captain woke up. He stood up from his chair with an angry roar.

"Demn me eyes, what is my first mate doing ordering my crew around!"

"Sir, you were not in any-"

"Shut up!" yelled the captain, his eyes bulging as he spoke. "You, sirrah, will be court-martialed as soon as we return to Corneria! To the escape pods! But you, mate, bring the cargo from the loading bays, or at least some of it!" So saying, Eremund left the bridge through the main doors.

In the silence that followed, Jack looked at Kate. "I'm not following that madman." he said simply. A second explosion rocked the ship, this time rolling the ship over and over. The gravity generator was destroyed, and the power went out temporarily.

Captain Eremund was struck by a rent metal support and killed instantly.

* * *

"Alright guys, split up and take down any Grallian you see." ordered Fox, already closing in on one. He strafed it with the Arwing's main weapons, pulling up sharply as a hail of defensive fire came up to meet him. "Can anyone get through?" he asked, checking his shields. They were holding firmly at 95 percent. 

"I'll try." said Abbey, corkscrewing and looping up and around. She landed three hits- one less than Fox- before also being forced to pull out. "Can't do it! That stuff's blinding!"

"Alright, everyone, start taking other targets. Slippy, figure out how to kill these things!"

"Use the sniping reticule." said the toad simply, drawing up his crosshairs on a wolf ship far away. He fired two precision rounds, watching impassively as the white lasers cut apart two of the point-defense lasers. Firing quickly to finish off the shields, Slippy locked on to the wolf ship and fired a Nova bomb. The offending craft was blown in two.

"Yeah, Slippy!" cheered Krystal, pulling a loop. "But I'm doing it the old-fashioned way!" The vixen dodged and weaved through the lasers, approaching from a blind spot. A missile was fired at her, but she jinked up and avoided it easily. The missile streaked past and was lost to view and she opened fire. One laser flew down a missile tube and struck a loaded warhead. That ship too went up in a flash of light. Krystal instinctively ducked as she flew through the debris cloud. Her Arwing rocked as it hit large chunks of debris, then stopped. She looked at her shield meter. It read, 80 percent.

Falco, easily the most aggressive of the group fired his front hyper gattling gun and the single nose laser in a strafing run, ignoring the few hits that splashed across his shields. Destroying three of the four turrets, he approached from the wide open port side, then opened fire with one of the devastator attacks. The falcon whooped as the night around them was lit up for many, many miles with a flash of white, blue, and green light. The wolf ship fled, smoking heavily. It did not get far before a Nova bomb found it.

Fox crippled a wolf ship's engines with two shots. "Peppy, get a tractor beam on this thing-" he began, but the ship self-destructed. "...nevermind." he groused, focusing on the next one.

* * *

So the battle went on. The Great Fox, far behind, came on. Still far from the battle, it stopped abruptly. "Team, that's enough- we've got the lot of them- what in the name-" he exclaimed, watching a flaming hulk race by the ship, heading towards Aquas at crazy speeds. The hare coughed lightly. "On second thought, get back here this instant and help me chase down a burning ship!"

With the companionway behind the bridge crumpled inwards and the lift wrecked, the bridge crew of the Nebula could only tell the other sailors to hold on over the remaining communications line before settling into silence as the crippled ship raced onwards, Aquas growing larger in the viewscreen with each passing second.


	22. Commands and Computers

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: There really isn't that much to be said. I am working on a Harry Potter story as well, and atop of that I may bring my Lord of the Flies story back. Perhaps then, I shall continue full-time with this story. But rest assured, I have not forgotten about Black Skies. 

To MisterChief: I appreciate your critical review, and I may go with some of the points- but whether in this story or not is to be seen. Changing the style now would be more trouble than it is worth, so perhaps I will take your comments into account in later installments.

Sorry this chapter is short.

* * *

**Chapter 19 Commands and Computers**

* * *

"The Great Fox's power systems are not enough to bring that ship to a halt, Fox." said Peppy gravely. "It seems most of the other merchant ships have made the jump successfully. Quit fighting and report back!" 

"Understood, Peppy." said Fox, pulling the Krystal Fire up and around in a tight loop. Fox could hear rivets straining as he put the ship through a sharp roll. The vulpine eased the throttle forward, and then punched both booster triggers. He was pressed into his seat by the rapid acceleration. He noted that his teammates were doing the same.

Ahead, the Great Fox drifted forwards on its large engines. Slippy shifted over to the right to avoid the ion trail, which would knock his ship offline instantly. It was not long before the entire team had assembled in the hangar before moving up to the bridge.

* * *

Aboard the Nebula, an eerie silence reigned. Those on the bridge gripped controls and seats hard, while others frantically looked for safe spots and repaired what they could. All over the ship, air-tight doors locked various companionways shut. Those close to the breach had a red indicator light flashing brightly. 

"Vacuum damage to section X is going to rip out Bulkhead No. 3." announced Kate. "After that, we only have two sound bulkheads left between us and space."

"Vacuum damage?" asked Jack. "We're going at speeds that high?"

"No, but there's a lot of resistance building up around that hole." affirmed a technician nervously. "The retro-rockets will not respond. If we are to survive, something must be done to retard the corrosion."

"And the airlocks?"

"All have been shut. They aren't helping."

"We're receiving a communication, but we will not be able to respond." said Kate, pressing a few keys. General Pepper's face showed up onscreen.

"To the merchant fleet, this is General Pepper. Turn back immediately! A large contingent of Grallian fighters have been detected at your destination point! You will not be able to outrun these ships! They will destroy you! Please sound off as you receive this message..."

Kate closed the transmission with another key tap. "Well, that's that." she said lethargically.

Jack was about to speak when he happened to look out one of the cracked viewpanes. The words never came, for the shock of seeing the Great Fox winging its way beside them spirited them away on its ion trails.

* * *

"What can be done?" asked Krystal, pacing the deck. "Slippy, will they survive entering the Aquan atmosphere?" 

"Most likely not." said the toad with a level voice. "However, if we disable their engines and grab them with our hangar tractors, we may be able to slow them down enough that they will."

"Do it." said Fox, already racing from the room. "Falco, with me!" The avian went after the vulpine, leaving a trail of blue feathers drifting in the air. Krystal turned to Slippy, who was tapping his keyboard with a feverish speed born of desperation.

_Command Prompt: Activate Tractor Beam A_

_Status: 40 Percent Complete._

_Command Prompt: Activate Tractor Beam B_

_Status: 5__ Percent__ Complete._

_Command Prompt: Activate Tractor Beam C_

_Status: Initializing..._

_Command Prompt: Activate Laser Cannons_

_Status: 2 __Percent__ Complete._

_Command Prompt: Configure Laser Cannons (Disable)_

_Status: Complete._

Krystal peered over the toad's shoulder, reading the lines of text on screen. The readouts continued to look grim as a computerized message flashed up onscreen.

_Distance to Aquas: 15,000_

Slippy continued to type, his face blank as he peered over a set of reading glasses at the screen. He adjusted his cap as he continued to work.

_Command Prompt: Activate Tractor Beam C_

_Status: 65 __Percent__ Complete._

_Command Prompt: Activate Laser Cannons_

_Status: 7 __Percent__ Complete._

_Command Prompt: Configure Laser Cannons (Disable)_

_Status: Complete._

_Command Prompt: Reroute Power Output (Shields -50)_

_Status: 80 __Percent__ Complete._

_Command Prompt: Reroute Power Output (Tractor Beams +50)_

_Status: 3 __Percent__ Complete._

_Command Prompt: Configure Controls (Manual)_

_Status: Complete._

_Distance to Aquas: 12,000_

Fox slung himself into his Arwing, watching as Falco did the same. The cockpit closed about him as the computer began to boot up. Fox gnashed his teeth in fury as the loading screen came up.

_Computer Initialization_

_Status: 2 Complete._

Minutes ticked by, then a pleasant voice chimed, "Initialization Complete." Fox grinned and slammed the throttle forwards, uncaring as the ion flame charred the deck behind him. Fox and Falco's ships leapt from the hangar before the Great Fox as Fox began to explain his plan.

The two Arwings maneuvered themselves in front of the Nebula, using their G-Diffuser systems to keep them clear of the merchant ship. Both ships rerouted power into the forward shields, then pressed forward, locking with the Nebula's prow. Two engines fired brightly, even as the Nebula surged forwards.

_Command Prompt: Activate Tractor Beam C_

_Status: Complete._

_Command Prompt: Activate Laser Cannons_

_Status: 14 __Percent__ Complete._

_Command Prompt: Reroute Power Output (Shields -50)_

_Status: Complete._

_Command Prompt: Reroute Power Output (Tractor Beams +50)_

_Status: 9 __Percent__ Complete._

_Distance to Aquas: 9,000_

Abbey nudged the Great Fox closer to the Nebula, the smaller Dreadnought's wings scraping against the damaged hull of the merchantman. The engines fired brightly as the tractor beams grappled and locked onto the Nebula. Retrorockets fired with a tremendous flash, severing the tenuous link the tractor beams composed. Abbey eased the ship forward again, locking onto the merchantman once more. This time, she slowed gradually, the ship straining to slow down the ship ahead.

_Command Prompt: Activate Laser Cannons_

_Status: 46__ Percent__ Complete._

_Command Prompt: Reroute Power Output (Tractor Beams +50)_

_Status: 9 __Percent__ Complete._

_Distance to Aquas: 6,000_

The GaleStorm and Krystal Fire struggled against the Nebula, but even their advanced powerplants could not overcome the merchantman's inertia. As the Great Fox vainly tried to bring the ship to a halt, Slippy was pressing a key code with the utmost precision and caution. The toad was sweating as he noted the slow speed of the cannon activation and the power transfer.

_Command Prompt: Activate Laser Cannons_

_Status: 97 __Percent__ Complete._

_Command Prompt: Reroute Power Output (Tractor Beams +50)_

_Status: 40 __Percent__ Complete._

_Distance to Aquas: 5,000_

The planet was now looming large, and Fox was faced with a decision. Save the cargo, the crew, or attempt to save both and fail? A hundred thoughts raced through his head before he decided to continue.

Slippy nearly fainted when a welcome message came up on screen.

_Command Prompt: Activate Laser Cannons_

_Status: Complete._

_Command Prompt: Reroute Power Output (Tractor Beams +50)_

_Status: 60 __Percent__ Complete._

_Distance to Aquas: 4,000_

The Great Fox drew back slightly, then rocked as two blue bolts streamed from its cannons. They struck the Nebula's engines, and these went out, one after the other. With no drive left but inertia, the Arwings pushing in front began to have an effect. Still, the tractor beams were needed, and the power transfer was still underway. The Nebula shuddered.

* * *

"We need to tell them that our second bulkhead will fail if they continue tractoring us." said Jack cautiously. "Does anyone know the condition of the rear transmitter?" 

"It appears to be online. Should we try and-"

"Use the PA system, see if anyone's alive back there. If so, get them to tell Star Fox-" began the mate. The Nebula gave a great lurch as the tractor beams on the Great Fox powered up to their fullest, straining now.

"Second bulkhead has failed." said Kate, glancing at the damage control console. The entire screen was nearly red. "It's now easier to say what works over what doesn't."

"Falco, Fox, disengage!" called Slippy. "We've done all we can! Get up and out before that thing takes you with it!"


	23. Century

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Ugh, I looked back at my original Chapter 19 that I was writing, and I couldn't believe how awful it is. So here I am, rewriting it after another very long hiatus. I need to get back into writing to help with my moods... 

This is a very short introductory chapter! Watch out!

* * *

**Chapter 20 Century**

* * *

It was only with great effort that the two Arwings before the Nebula pulled up, their prows throwing sparks up from the hull. Wincing at the grinding noise, Fox threw his ship into a hard barrel roll and broke free. Falco joined him seconds later as the Nebula began to plummet towards the Aquan surface. 

Flames danced across the bridge viewpanes as the ship descended through the atmosphere. A smoky contrail led back from the ship into space, widening as the ship continued to fall.

* * *

Fox watched the cloud of steam that blocked their view of the Nebula. "Does that mean a safe reentry?" he asked. 

"I just got confirmation of it." said Slippy. "There are already medics there. Not a smart crew, but at least they held together. Unlike their ship, which I've been informed just broke in half."

"Everyone got off?" asked Abbey, who was now bringing the Great Fox about.

"Yes, everyone alive." said Slippy. "The fatality rate was about ten percent. We did the best we could." There was silence- then a loud bang that unmistakably showed that Fox had slammed his paw into something.

"Fox?" said Krystal. "Slippy's right. We're only one team. We can't do everything."

* * *

By the time the two Arwings had landed, Fox had been sufficiently mollified to join the rest of the team for a drink in the recreation room. A transmission from General Pepper affirmed that the rest of the merchants had safely reached their destination, and that more Cornerian fleet ships were on patrols in the area. So far, the kill tally stood at one wolf ship for one dreadnought. 

"Pretty steep." remarked Falco. "We'll lose the war at this rate."

"Considering that we just managed to take out three with no loses," countered Fox, "I'd say we'll be winning this war."

Falco opened his beak to reply when Abbey heard a soft blipping. She walked over to a small screen in the wall and read what it said. "Company at Rista Six." she said quietly.

"What's going on here?" asked Fox as he walked onto the bridge. Peppy swung about in his chair.

"We have more fighter readings, along with some wolf ships. A few cruisers. Looks like we'll be in for a hell of a fight." The hare expected Fox to mutter something about no rest, but the vulpine did the opposite.

"Fighter to fighter combat...that's more like it!" he replied with zeal. "Take us in as fast as we can. When will we arrive?"

"In about 45 minutes." said Abbey, glancing up from a tactical console. "Ship's ready to go."

* * *

The dusty sphere that was Rista Six undulated and pulsed with a hypnotic rhythm. Many of the pilots aboard the Great Fox felt sleepy simply looking at it. It was oddly calming. Then one of the many clouds lit up with a startling blue flash. Fox stared at his teammates. 

"Looks like a fight has already started."

* * *

There were two kinds of combat- that of tangible war, and that of sensor war. The latter was a frightening blend of technical ability, luck, and mindless terror. For the Grallian pilots in and around the combat zone, it was a horrifying glimpse into what modern war could be like. They fired blindly, flying away from a nameless stalker who pursued them through the dust. A black spacecraft that soundlessly destroyed its foes...

* * *

Century Shorehm was not a normal canine by anyone's standards, but it was his ship that could really chill his foes to the bone. Many a criminal had met his end on the end of his laser, or upon his crosshairs. Either way, it made no difference to him. A foe was a foe. 

Now, he was fighting for his homeland. Slipping in and out of sight and targeting on the sensors built into his ship, he shot down Grallian after Grallian. Sometimes, he could see the explosions on the tiny solid core far below, all that was left of the once-great planet.

"Be careful, stick to my wing." ordered Fox. "We don't know who is shooting down there, and if you get separated, head for space. Keep on your toes!" With that, Krystal Fire hurtled into the dust cloud and disappeared without a trace.

But not from Shorehm's sensors. The canine looked carefully at the readings that were scrolling across his screen. They didn't match anything in his comprehensive ship registrar.

Twiddling his thumbs, he looked out the blank windshield before depressing the triggers.

It wasn't the best of experiences. After less than a minute, Star Fox was under attack, lasers winging at them from behind. After activating a three-dimensional radar set, Fox looped around the intruder and opened fire. The radar drew green grid lines across his cockpit, easing the burdens of blind flight.

Century frowned. No ship had ever done that much damage to his ship before. The lasers were more powerful than anything he'd ever seen. Certainly, he would have to make a move. The canine slammed back in his seat as he took his ship out of the dust cloud.

* * *

"Hey, Fox? A ship just came out up here. Doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before." said Abbey, glancing at the monitor before her. She tapped the magnify button, and was struck by the elegance of the ship before her. Then a silver Arwing lifted out of the dusty mist- and opened fire. 

Sparks flew inside the cockpit as Century fought his controls. His ship suddenly corkscrewed back and came in behind Falco, a red cursor highlighting his ship on the windshield. He was about to fire when his computer broke Star Fox's encryption code, and a burst of radio chatter came forth.

"...you sure?"

"Positive. This ship was identified by the Bounty Guild a few months back. It was taking off almost all the targets off the list. No one knows the owner."

"Watch it Falco, he's on you!"

"He's got a lock!"

"Not for long!" And with that, Falco pinwheeled madly into Rista Six, vanishing from sight.

Century was going to shut his commlink and go after the fighter that had been shooting him when he saw the logo on the ship above him, as well as saw a small light go on the dashboard. The light's message was quite ominous.

Weapon Lock Confirmed.

* * *

_Hah...stupid upstart. No one shoots down Falco!_ Hurtling through the dust, Falco was about to turn up when an insistent beeping reached his ears. He looked at the monitor. 

_Oh shoot..._ he thought, seconds before Grallian lasers lit the sky about him. Sure they had found their worst enemy, the enemy pilots were going at it with a will.

Century coughed into his comm. "Excuse me, but would you please disable your weapons lock? It's making me uncomfortable."

Fox warily approached the black ship before him. "You fired upon us."

"I believed you were more invaders. Your ships don't match my registry logs."

"Our ships aren't on the logs. They are prototype Cornerian Mark IV Arwings." replied Slippy defensively.

"Oh? And you are...Star Fox?" asked Century, scanning the Great Fox. "If you are, my apologies..._and will you get that ruddy lock off of me?_"

"Sorry..." muttered Abbey, disengaging the cannon lock. "Now, where's Falco?"

"The communications are being disrupted right now." said Slippy in disgust. "I'll go look for him. Be back in a flash!" The toad was gone as well.

"Stay together!" barked Fox, before slumping in his seat. "Bother and confound it!" He and Krystal disappeared into the murk as well. Century slid in behind them.


	24. Swirls of Brown

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Well, while I am currently out of my home state and can only use this stinking excuse for a laptop, Black Skies is officially restarted after something to the tune of a three-month hiatus. 

Although The Truth of War, Through Unseen Eyes, and Legacy have been postponed for now, I am starting work on the story, Defiant. It is not based off a random idea I had earlier (Star Fox, Star Wars, Star Trek crossover), but on temporal anomalies. A ship passes into a slowed-time bubble, and returns to find that it is the only ship left of its nationality. I am pondering the timeframe- before Star Fox, so the ship must fight against our mercenary team- perhaps the first time they are portrayed that badly- or post Star Fox, when Corneria falls prey to lust of power. Suggestions? I'm always open. Particularly for this book. If anyone has suggestions as to events, let me know, because I'm going to get bored portraying peacetime. Or I'll shift to Wolf's point of view..

One other thing- does anyone want more capital ship engagements, fighter-to-fighter combat, or ground fighting? If so, tell me. I'm definitely not focusing on the first and last.

Also introducing featured technology.

* * *

**Chapter 21 Swirls of Brown**

* * *

After several minutes had gone by, it was quite clear who was coming out on top in this aerial dogfight. With the most technical experience on the team, Slippy Toad's lasers found more than twice the number of targets as the rest of team combined. While making use of the superimposed radar grid on his cockpit, the numbers and letters scrolling across his screens were of greater use. 

The rest of the team was essentially flying blind. Although the Great Fox periodically fired its plasma cannons into the murk, this only cleared the air for seconds before an explosion far below ended the moment of clarity. Even the Jet Lag, Century's ship, was beginning to show its weaknesses against the Mark IV. Still, all pilots fought gamely on, and with their increased numbers, they became a bigger target.

Grallians homed in on the engine readings from all over the combat sector, lasers hitting their own just as much as they hit the foe. However, the sheer volume of fire was becoming overwhelming, and soon no ship had shields above fifty percent. Star Fox, however, had won its reputation through more than fighting. It wasn't long before Falco made an observation.

"Whenever we get near these coordinates, we get shot at more. There's something down there." Fox's reaction was characteristically swift.

"Falco, take Slippy, go investigate. Abbey, prepare to fire at these coordinates. Blanket the area. As for everybody else- get the hell out of here!"

The dust lit up to reflect the blue glow from the retreating ships. The Jet Lag did not follow, melting into the dust once more. Turning away, it followed the course of Slippy and Falco, who still left a fading trail for his sensors to follow.

* * *

"We'll be near the central core in about two minutes." announced Slippy. "At the rate we're going, we'd better start slowing down soon." 

"If something's down there, we'll be sitting ducks!" protested Falco. "Why not just pull up instead? These ships can handle it!"

"Fine. If you end up as a pile of wreckage on the core, don't blame me." said Slippy in return. He swore his blood grew warm at Falco's stupidity.

Both Arwings ripped through the dust at almost ten times the speed of sound. The frames began to rattle as they went still faster. Then, proximity alarms began to flash. Slippy started pulling up, but Falco kept going, only to bring his ship upright in a bone-shattering curve that nearly shook his ship apart. Smoke began to pour from one of his G-Diffusers.

"Blast it, Falco, listen to me next time!" said Slippy. He would have said more, but a hail of laser fire shot out from the mist in front of him. Rolling to the right, he flipped on his scanners. "Falco, strafe the thing with your lasers. I'm going to fire a Nova bomb!"

"Gotcha." An inky streak of smoke laced the dust before Slippy as Falco's lasers shot out, flashes of white amidst the prevalent green. Then Falco came back. "I'm clear! Looks like an anti-aircraft defense."

"Heard. Let's see." replied the toad, firing his bomb. It detonated, destroying the dust before him.

"Holy mother..."

A dust-scarred and weather worn base stood before them, stretching across the hellish surface of the core, which was pitted with canyons and still-molten lava flowing across its surface. Greenish gas rose from vents in the ground, augmenting the dusty haze. Before the dust closed in again, Slippy took a picture of the base as fighters flew out to intercept them. Then he strapped his emergency restraints.

"Hey, Falco? Get your emergency belts on. I'm thinking a rocket up to the surface. Go, go, go!"

"Beat you there, froggy!" Both Arwings hurtled upwards at twice the speed that they'd descended at, leaving the Grallians with nothing to shoot at. But there was something shooting at them. The Jet Lag flitted in and out of sight as it fired, bombs and lasers streaking through the dusty skies as they hit their targets. Then a tremendous explosion rent the air, audible from a minor outpost on the other side of the planet.

* * *

Back on the Great Fox, the team looked at the picture before them. The atmosphere in the conference room had seldom been this serious. Fox stood up, walked over to the screen, and tapped it. 

"First things first. How did they build this thing?"

"I'm guessing some kind of teleportation technology." said Slippy, scrolling across a data pad. "Probably prefabricated."

"Transported items begin disintegrating once over a threshold of several hundred thousand light-years." replied Peppy languidly. "They would have had to tow this thing in on a barge, and I think we'd have seen it before it got anywhere close enough to get in."

"The Orbital Gate can handle farther distances than a standard transporter. Who's to say the Grallians don't have one?" shot back Falco, in a rare moment of intelligence. Abbey shook her head.

"But that would require more power than the entire Cornerian power grid can make in a year." Falco glowered at her.

"This system is quite bigger than Corneria. I'm sure they could muster the power."

The two might have started a real argument when Slippy coughed and raised his voice. "ROB, put external camera three on the screen?" Silence fell over the room as Rista Six came into view. A black shape, pouring smoke and flame was flying towards them. Fox stood up.

"All hands to the Mark IIIs. Scramble!"

* * *

As it turned out, this gesture of support wasn't necessary. By the time they had gotten to the lift, ROB was announcing the safe capture of the Jet Lag. As they switched directions and made for the hangar, Fox shook his head in disgust. "How did I forget about Mr. Shorehm?" The pilot had briefly introduced himself earlier. 

The hangar was rapidly filling with smoke when the quick Falco pulled Century from his cockpit. The gasping canine was rushed into the medical room while Falco and Abbey stayed behind with the fire suppression hoses, trying to quell the numerous fires that had erupted all over the Jet Lag, fires of all colors and burning intensely.

"He's fine, just a little smoke inhalation." said Slippy, replacing the medical scanner back in its bag. "Hey, hey, easy now!"

Century struggled up from the gurney, coughing slightly and swearing all the while. "How's my ship?" he asked, worry creasing his face. A blackened Abbey entered at that, with Falco behind her.

"It's fine, but it looks like you lost quite a few circuits. Falco doesn't think it'll be flying for awhile." Century swore again at this.

"They hit me with some kind of a collateral effect weapon. Took out my entire shield grid at once, and most of the armor besides." He would have gone on, but the Great Fox heeled over suddenly, a rolling boom echoing throughout the ship.

Abbey was the first to the tactical console. "We're taking fire. Looks like we're going to lose the upper hangar doors in a minute or so."

"Are the IVs on standby?"

"Yeah, but we'd better hurry."

As the team headed off, Century took off down a side corridor. He knew the layout of most capital ships better than their captains, and he moved quickly into the ball turret on the Great Fox's starboard side. Soon, the gun was spitting defiance as Century claimed several fighters.

Falco was keying in the security code to the hangar when the ship shook with a mighty roar. Simultaneously, a harsh red light flared up on the hangar door. Fox looked to Slippy, who groaned.

"Hangar depressurization. We go in there, we get killed." Falco and Fox swore loudly- Krystal simply shook her head.

"Back to the bridge for us." she said quietly. Falco shook his head.

"I'm off to the port gun turret. See you later!"

The team nodded, then hurried off to their places.

* * *

While Century and Falco fired at the fighters surrounding them, reaching the bridge was proving to be a struggle. Every time the group advanced, the ship would hurtle sideways and throw them against the nearest wall or bulkhead. The lifts were malfunctioning as well, but Slippy managed to get them to the bridge. As they settled into their seats, another blast rocked the Great Fox, and sparks shot from one of the consoles. 

Scanning the screen quickly, the toad began to rap out the reports. "Shields are at 23 percent, hull plating is good. I'm losing the starboard engine and power has failed to the sixth deck. Life support is failing on decks seven and eight. I've lost the missile launchers, and the plasma cannons aren't responding properly."

"I'd like to know how they can do this much damage to us in five minutes!" exploded Fox. "Slippy, retune our shields, try and block them. Abbey, get the automated defense systems online. Krystal, help me try and stabilize the ship!"

As the lights flickered and dimmed under the onslaught outside, Falco called from his turret. "Hey, guys, how many are out there?"

Krystal took a glance at the radar navigation panel, counted the red blips and yelled back. "Looks like about thirty of the buggers, along with a cruiser or two!"

"Dang!"

Power flooded through the ship. "Defense systems are online!" said Abbey in jubilation. "We've got the plasma sparklers everywhere, and the mines as well."

"Good job! Now, help Slippy- we need the main cannons! I think the base down there is shooting at us- let's give them our regards!"

"Upper hangar doors are buckling!" said Krystal. Fox opened the comm. to Century and Falco. "How's it going down there?"

"Alright, but they're too fast to hit!" said Falco.

"Holding together." came Century's terse reply.

* * *

The mines, missiles, and sparklers were just beginning to have an effect on the swarm around them when the angry red glow of Great Fox's cannons spoke for the ship. The lasers barreled down at the base that had been sighted earlier, shooting a plume of flame clear into space. It was clear the base was not done yet- but the anti-orbital fire that came back had lessened considerably. 

It was Krystal who first began to voice her concerns. "Fox, if we keep firing like this, we could destabilize the core of Rista."

"What's that got to do with anything?" fired back the vulpine, angered now at the damage to his ship. "It's a useless hunk of lava and rock anyway!"

"Fox," broke in Slippy, "if the core destabilizes, we'd be shooting this dust all over Lylat. Most of it still contains biogenic traces- it'd be worse than if Solar suddenly went supernova and black hole."

"Keep shooting. There isn't another way to save the ship." replied Fox, staring at the monitor before him. "Abbey, tell those idiots down there that if they don't surrender, we'll blast them to pieces."

It was a few minutes later when the base reply came in the form of a massive burst of rainbow energy, the laser striking the Great Fox and blasting a hole through one of its wings. Light from the beam spilt over the ship, and it reeled away, explosions flaring up all over the hull.

"Primary shields offline, secondary shields offline, aft hull plating at 30 percent, forward hull plating at 60, dorsal plating at 50, under plating is at six percent, hull breaches on the seventh deck, lower defense systems offline, and we're losing power to the third deck!"

Century's voice came crackling over the comm. "This is the collateral-damage weapon I was hit with. If we're hit again-"

"She'll hold together." replied Fox with confidence. "The first Great Fox survived worse. Slippy, can you pinpoint the location of the weapon?"

"I'm on it!"

"Abbey, move us to the other side of the dust cloud, out of range."

"We'll be there in about half a minute."

The ship rattled again as it was hit. Fox swore.

"Forgot about the fighters. Are the hangar force fields online yet?"

"Negative," replied Slippy, "the emitters got blasted. Repairs aren't possible at the speeds we're going at."

* * *

As the dreadnought went on, the swarm of fighters began to break off, many of them claimed by the ship's furious rage. The two cruisers followed at a safe distance, hammering the Great Fox from its unprotected stern. Krystal was first to notice this, and pointed it out to Abbey. 

"Yeah, I figured." said the otter. "We can't outrun them either, not on two engines..."

"Then turn already and shoot them!" said Falco, emerging from the lift. "My turret's out, sorry guys."

"That's fine, now turn this ship around!" said Fox. He took a look at the damage control terminal. Most of the ship was red, and the bars usually illuminated by a shield and hull plating meter were both dark. Much of the ship was shown to be inhabitable at the moment.

There was a different vibration now as the Great Fox heeled sharply to port, making a banking turn back towards the cruisers. Having clearly underestimated the ship's maneuverability, the two cruisers began to flee. Abbey brought the ship directly behind the fleeing cruisers, and Falco quickly got the lock. The plasma cannons reached out and destroyed the first cruiser- a second volley quickly brought down the second. The Great Fox made its turn again as the collateral beam lanced out, missing them by only a few meters.

"We'll need backup." said Fox grimly. "As long as this base is here, anything from Sector Y to Zoness is in danger. We can't leave it standing." He paced the bridge, looking around at his team. Abbey sat silently at the pilot console, Falco beside her near the cannon controls. Slippy was dashing between consoles, trying to bring whatever he could back online. Century was still holding vigil in the one usable turret, and Krystal was behind him, her eyes blank as she cast her mind out for Grallians.

It wasn't a team that could go into battle again anytime soon. Yet the engines were failing rapidly, and the core's revolutions would bring them within range of the base in under three hours. Something had to be done, and quickly at that.

* * *

The Wildfire-class cruiser Halcyon was drifting through Sector Y, searching for escape pods when it received a transmission from Star Fox. The captain unquestioningly turned and threw his ship to full warp towards Rista.

* * *

Century was donning a life support suit with Fox, Krystal, and Slippy as the lift rattled. Krystal raised a clunky paw, grimacing at the lack of maneuverability the suit afforded. Slippy shouldered a gun-like multi-tool, stepping from foot to foot with nervous energy. 

The lift doors rattled open, showing them a dark corridor of the Great Fox. Slippy moved immediately to an access panel, while the others fanned out. The obvious problems, like showers of sparks or pipe flames, were quickly remedied. More difficult leaks and breaches were fixed by Slippy. And so it went until they came across the first hull breach, a gaping hole four feet wide. Here, Slippy handed each of them a small device.

"It's a field emitter." he said over the comm. "Just stick them around the edges of the hole." He stuck his on the lower edge, while the others took the higher spots. Stepping back, the toad pressed a button on his wrist. A force field sprang to life, and the red indicator light for depressurization flicked off as breathable air flooded the deck.

The repairs went on as the clock continued to tick. Just as the Great Fox came over the base 'horizon,' the temporary repairs were completed, and power raced through the ship as lights and fans came on, humming. Almost immediately, the ship was hit by a low-yield anti-orbital weapon (LYAO). Firing the cannons back in reply, Abbey brought the ship in position as four Arwings were flung violently into space. She looked back over her shoulder at the canine on the bridge with her. The dog had taken over Peppy's capabilities on the bridge quite quickly- a blessing, owing to the hare's poor health. Peppy was resting in the sickbay at the moment.

* * *

Century's eyes narrowed. "What I would give to be there." he said, before he looked back to the console he was working at. "Fighters, coming in at eight o' clock." 

"Gotcha. Falco, can you get them off us?"

"Coming over, right now!" True to his word, Falco looped easily over the bridge and fired at the Grallian fighters, turning three of them to shrapnel. Of the remaining five, two broke off to engage him, while the others continued to pummel the Great Fox. Although their lasers would not have made much of a difference one at a time, together, they were slowly draining the ship's already strained shields. Light was dancing across the ship as the strained shield grids began to overload.

Abbey pulled a hard turn to avoid another collateral shot. The ship shook slightly as a Grallian fighter collided with the wing, destroying itself. The otter then brought the ship into a slow barrel roll, taking another fighter with it. As the ship continued to turn, the otter grinned in satisfaction- then started as Falco angrily came on the comm.

"What are you doing? I'm losing my bearings- stop moving!"

"Alright, okay...give me a moment, huh?" replied Abbey. The otter was somewhat irate at having another blunder tacked onto her, but she leveled out anyway. The ship settled into the new flight path without further trouble- then was promptly struck again by a hail of lasers. With a spectacular flash, the overtaxed shield grid failed and the ship started receiving hits to her plate armor.

Fortunately, it was dispersive plate, and the shots had no effect. Just another tribute to the genius of Arspace.

* * *

"Krystal, go in low. Slippy, you stay above, cover Falco and help take out any anti-aircraft turrets. I'll take out fighter support. Once you reach the base, let go your Nova bombs and run. On my mark...mark!" 

The three Arwings swooped through the dust layer, blind except for the eerie grid lines on their viewpanes. Falco had already told them where he was, and while they were now down an Arwing, Krystal broke off and came in close to the ground, her wingtips raising yet more dust from the barren surface. A spray of lava splattered across her windshield as she passed one of the few active vents. Her shields repelled the lava and she flew on. Her wing cannons flashed once, then she opened fire, unleashing the Cerulean Blue's full destructive might.

In the dust above the base, Slippy's Arwing began to shoot, firing a full spray of multicolored lasers across the base. Several turrets blew up into flame, briefly and vividly illuminating the haze. A lurid red glow soon began to suffuse the dust as portions of the base caught fire. Every so often, the region would brighten as the anti-orbital weapons fired, before giving way to the rainbow flash of the collateral weapon.

"Now, all fighters- on the anti-orbital! Slippy, tag 'em!"

"I've got it!" called the toad. Red blips began to show up across the Arwing viewpanes, about twenty in number. Fox whistled lowly. "Alright, everybody, choose your targets- destroy those weapons!"

Slippy fired the first Nova bomb, almost invisible in the predominant red lighting. A violent flash and crashing boom signaled a detonation. The dust cleared briefly, revealing that that the turret was still standing. Krystal quickly destroyed it with a well placed laser volley, and emerging from the shrapnel, she and Fox targeted the next weapon. Two Nova bombs turned that into rubble as well, debris raining down over the area.

Target after target was eliminated, but a fatal mistake had been made, and Fox realized it only when the next rainbow flash shot over the base. "Slippy, flag the collateral weapon- now!"

"I can't- they all look the same to my scanners. We'll just have to blast 'em.all."

"Then everybody, follow my lead. If we can't find which one is the bad one off the bat, then we might as well, get the others quickly. On my six!"

Krystal Fire darted in low, quickly opening fire with a salvo of bombs and lasers. The tower disintegrated before the others had a chance to fire. But on the next turret, Slippy spoke first, a missile falling off from his wing before igniting in a shower of sparks and blue flame. Crashing into the turret, it dissolved into a massive blanket of bluish sparks that covered the turret. It stopped firing and disappeared from the target lists. Several more missiles fired- and these detonated in spectacular rushes of lurid flame.

Next was Krystal's turn, and although Fox managed to get two shots in to Slippy's three, the vixen had the tower gone before the others could blink. As they progressed to the more powerful turrets, more teamwork was needed until only a single target was left. When a telltale rainbow flash shot across their vision, the last turret, a high-yield weapon, was found.

Now that it was found, the problem turned to its destruction. An experimental potshot determined that Slippy's EMP missiles were useless, and thick anti-aircraft fire prevented them from getting a lock on for a bomb or laser. As Slippy ran more scans, Fox decided on a plan of action.

"Slippy, Krystal, stick on me, follow me around in a quick strafing run, bombs as quick as y'like, lasers even faster. Keep your boosters on- that's murderous fighter over there. Come on!"

Executing a tight turn, the three Arwings came around in a blaze of firepower, targeting the fortress-like collateral turret. In this battle, the only things that mattered were the green lines on the screen.

* * *

Century's fingers quickly brought up a repair program on the screen, and as the Great Fox began to repair its shield grid, he quickly made for the lift. Abbey called after him, but the canine's blood was up, and there was only one place for him to go- the lower hangar. 

Century opened the hangar door and sniffed. The air was fresh and clean, even though the Jet Lag was still smoking from numerous plasma fires and internal meltdowns. Moving from this painful sight, the dog vaulted into the nearest Arwing- Abbey's, and quickly started up the computer in limited form. Cutting the sensors and shields, everything but his engine and weapons, he brought the Mark IV up and out in a record half a minute, leaving the other systems to power up over the usual four minute timeframe. Joining Falco, he sprayed his lasers and showed the Grallians the true skill of another Lylatian ace- something many of them were seeing all too much of. Soon, drifting debris was all that was left of the score of ships that had followed the Great Fox to orbit. Both Arwings rolled halfway and descended into the dust.

* * *

Repulsed twice, the three Arwings banked sharply to the right and came in for another strafe. Even as more lasers burned out, the three ships jinked to avoid being hit. Lasers went flying all over the armor and shields, and with the ships jinking about, they were unable to focus on any particular place and concentrate fire upon it. Smaller turrets swung around to unleash a withering rain of fire, and Krystal started as her shields dropped dramatically. 

"Slippy, what's going on here? I thought these shields were the best in Lylat!"

Slippy was also hit, and his entire screen was soon blanketed in scanner readings as he analyzed the data. "Yeah, true, but those turrets are stronger than about 95 percent of all Lylatian weapons. If they can get those guns onto ships, we're in trouble. But if we can..."

"Can Grallian and Lylatian technology be meshed?" asked Fox.

"Yes, and that would be quite beneficial to us- we have better shields, but most of our weapons...less than satisfactory."

"You mean the old Arwings and Lerowings?"

"Yeah."

As the next strafe came, the ships held on their course. Flames burst out of Fox's upper right G-Diffuser, but three or four turrets were destroyed, leaving a blind spot in the turret's defense. Fox spotted it on an unsuccessful strafing round soon after. "Take that hole, and keep firing from there. Enlarge that gap."

The Arwings were just coming in towards the gap as Century and Falco swooped in on the other side. As both ships opened fire on the turret, pandemonium broke out as the turret, attacked from both sides began to reel from the damage. But the formation was shattered, and Arwings flew loosely all over the core. The gunners in the turret began to take advantage of easy prey, and they proved their marksmanship by striking each Arwing at least three or four times.

The fight dragged on and shields dipped lower. Lasers cut the dust everywhere, opening small gaps in the clouds. Then a low hum suffused the air. Fox turned and saw the rainbow glow that surrounded the barrel. The beam streaked into the air, and a massive explosion could be seen clearly.

There was complete radio silence. Even the gunnery turrets stopped firing for a moment. Krystal turned her face upwards, searching for thoughts. Nothing but silence reigned in her mind, nothing but the thoughts of those around her. Just silence...

Then, with alarming speed, a yellow beam cut a swath through the clouds. A massive explosion rocked the core, and the air cleared into space. The shockwave raised more dust, and hurled the Arwings into space.

When the world stopped spinning, Falco shook his head and switched his comm on. "Falco here, anybody else?"

"I'm here," said Fox hazily. "I can't fly straight..."

"You and me." said Krystal. She slumped in her cockpit, her eyes crossed. In a daze, she flipped a switch engaging the auto pilot. Her Arwing fired its engines and drifted towards the very intact Great Fox.

"The base isn't finished." said Abbey much later. Holding up scanner readings from the Great Fox, she pointed at a fuzzy image and some numbers. "Most of its weapons are offline, but the base itself is still holding strong. We should move on and leave the base to the other Cornerians. Our weapons may accidentally destabilize the core."

"I agree." said Slippy. Although he had a pounding headache, the toad kept his wits and made several other points. After a few minutes, Fox stood up.

"It's settled. We'll leave the base for the Cornerians. We need some rest. We'll head to Zoness, then swing back to see Solar. We'll have to take a week off- get our ships repaired. On the way, we'll see what we can do about your ship." said Fox, looking at Century. The canine nodded.

"Thanks. I built that ship myself, and I'd hate to see it wrecked because of some lousy fire."

"Incidentally, there is a problem with one of your manifolds." said Slippy, already getting up. Waddling next to Century, the toad disappeared down the elevator to the hangar.

When the two had left, Fox turned to the room. "Anyone up for a game of pool or ping pong?" he asked.

* * *

It was only after the Great Fox left communication range when the Halcyon arrived and began to call for reinforcements. It was only a matter of hours before the base had been destroyed and the core forcefully stabilized.

* * *

**Featured Technology: Dispersive Plating**

* * *

Dispersive plating was during the Lylat War. The first ship to carry it was the original Great Fox, after it visited Katina. Although the armor was a prototype, it protected the ship during the Battle of Sector Z, and defended it well during the final attack on Venom, including the assault on Area Six. Dispersive plate is effective up to plasma cannons, which means it is ideal as a defense against all hand-held weapons. Rockets and other ballistic weapons deal more damage to dispersive plating. 

Dispersive plating is a step up from reactive armor in that it deals more effectively with energy weapons, but it sacrifices tensile strength and ballistic resistance.

* * *


	25. Backlash

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Well, it's been quite awhile since my last update again. Defiance got two reviews, though I will remind you Wesley, this story is 'Black Skies,' not 'Dark Skies.' If you're a good author and want in on the Database Three project, let me know. It's running quite well, but more contributors are always nice. :D

* * *

**Chapter 22 Backlash

* * *

**_She sat at the pilot's chair, deftly tipping a joystick ever so slightly. The ship groaned in response, going into a slow roll._

_She was standing next to a damage-control console, watching the red lights flare behind the glass._

_She was spraying an extinguisher at an electrical fire spewing smoke from the tactical console._

_She was throwing up an arm as sparks rained down upon her, singeing her fur._

She?_ thought Abbey. She blinked, and realized she was seeing _herself_. A third-person dream. She relaxed slightly, the divergence complete. Her dream self scurried back to the pilot's control, and was comming Century furiously._

"_Give me some help here, damnit!" she cried. "I can't steer this bloody thing if there's a laser in my face every five seconds!"_

"_Well get used to it!" shot back the black hound. "This lousy thing barely covers _half_ the ship! You want cover, get Falco up here!"_

"_Maybe I will, then!" said Abbey, f licking the switch to change channels. She called Falco, then turned back to her controls, depressing the triggers as an unlucky fighter came into her sights. She was dismayed when an explosion sounded far beneath her. One blue beam lanced out and vaporized the fighter, but it was clear that the other gun had overloaded. A loud beeping noise from the console behind her only confirmed this. The remaining gun shut down seconds later, and all activity on the bridge ceased for a second as the power flickered. The reboot only took a second, and she took a second to glance at the command console._

Command Prompt: Re-Initialize Shields

Status: 20 Percent Complete

Command Prompt: Re-Activate Laser Cannons

Status: 10 Percent Complete

_She tapped in another command remotely._

Command Prompt: Reroute Power Output (Weapons -100)

Status: Complete

Command Prompt: Reroute Power Output (Shields + 100)

Status: 20 Percent Complete

Nothing new here_, thought the objective Abbey. Her other self was doing exactly as she had during the battle at Rista 6. But then a blinking light on the damage control console drew her attention, and she was certain that it had _not_ ever turned on during the battle._

LIFE SUPPORT FAILURE

_No, that had never happened. She watched as her other self turned back to it, then hailed Fox. There was only static. She tried Krystal. No response. Slippy answered, but as he began to speak, his screen went blank and there was another rush of static._

_The real Abbey quailed as she watched her other self, who had reached for Falco's channel. She activated it. No response. Abbey nearly collapsed before she saw the health readout, something she'd neglected to look at. Fox, Slippy, and Krystal's lights had all gone out. Bill and Fara's were flickering, but Falco and Century's burned brightly. The ship lurched as something docked with it, and sure enough, Falco entered, sweat-soaked and pale. Century came just after him, looking badly shaken, but otherwise fairly collected. Both immediately went to their battle stations._

"_We're getting annihilated here," said Falco in a hard voice. "Can we retreat? Someone needs to tell Pepper."_

"_Engines are about to fail," answered Century after one glance at the systems console. Abbey confirmed it._

"_Ship's wobbling about. I'm losing control." Then a klaxon began to sound, and Falco stood up straight._

"_Get off the ship. That's a power core destabilization alert. Slippy told me about it," he said, his voice cracking slightly at the end. "Come on! We have the personal cruiser."_

"_Will it last?" inquired Century anxiously. Falco only laughed, a horrible, humorless laugh. _

"_What do you think? Still, it's fast. That might be enough. Come on!" The pulsing red lights on the ship dimmed for an instant before it resumed again. Abbey was about to say they needed a distraction with one of the fighters when ROB reactivated suddenly, sparks flickering within him from damaged circuitry. It was clearly an effort for him to stand...as much effort as a robot could sense, anyway._

"_I will cover your retreat. I will stall for as much time as I can." he said in a low monotone. The robot stepped over to a console and began to go to work. Falco turned, clearly stricken, but Abbey smacked the avian with her rudder and spun the bird about._

"_Falco, come on! He can't fly a pod anyway! Hurry up!"_

_Falco took one last look in before the three left the bridge, which was wreathed in flame and smoke. Abbey vaguely watched the personal cruiser leave the ship. She was suddenly looking back at the Great Fox from the departing cruiser. The ship was making a gallant last stand, ROB ramming it into other ships to buy them time. Then a white light rushed from both hangar bays and the ship exploded in a hail of debris and a visible shockwave of blue from the power core._

* * *

She woke up suddenly, both hands clasping in front of her chest. A bead of sweat dripped into her eye, blurring her vision. She blinked. Her sight cleared- and she saw the entire team, ROB included, standing in the doorway, watching her. She flushed when she saw all had looks of irritation and concern on their faces. 

"You sure you don't want to be a comm officer?" queried Fox. "You were screaming loud enough to be heard back in Corneria."

* * *

"So..." said Fox, pacing the room, "Let's go over this again. Where did it diverge?" 

"Er...after the life support failed. That is, right after the cannons went down."

"I see," intoned Fox, still not looking convinced. He turned to Krystal, whose tail swished back and forth as she thought. The vulpine resisted the childish urge to tug it- Krystal turned and winked at him before turning back to the situation at hand.

"Well," she began, "dreams _can_ represent the future. It definitely isn't unheard of. But I can't validate it. I'm a telepath, not a fortune-teller. In any case, we'd best be on guard."

There was a chorus of agreement, and the team went their separate ways, though Falco lingered a bit longer. Abbey sighed and looked at the clock. Too early to be up, but it was not worth going back to sleep. She was about to mutter an oath when Krystal shimmered into view by the doorway. Something flicked onto her back faster than the otter's eye could follow. Krystal smiled briefly.

"Hey, Abbey. I was wondering..."

"Wait, first, how the _hell_ did you end up in my room?"

"Oh, that?" said Krystal. She pulled out her staff again and extended it to its full length. "Fox used it too, but I still know a bit more than he does. Anyway," she continued, collapsing the staff, "I was just wondering about your dream."

"Is it a premonition?" asked Abbey, with a curious combination of fear and curiosity coloring her voice. Krystal turned her head to one side.

"I don't know. More powerful telepaths occasionally have the ability to _see_, but I know that I don't. Consider it as a warning." She got up from a chair to leave, then turned in the doorway. "Don't worry too much, though. The odds of Fox and Falco getting shot down are nil to none. But Slippy..."

There was some laughter as the vixen slipped from the room.

* * *

Fox surveyed the damage boards closely, his face reflecting some of the sorrow he held for his ship. They'd had the Great Fox II long enough for everyone to become emotionally attached to it, and the groaning of the ship and the screeching of rent metal was almost more than he could stand. 

He glanced at Slippy. "What works?" he asked bluntly. The toad's eyes roved down the list.

"Center engine, navigational controls, life support, main hangar launching tracks, main computer systems, dispersive plating, hull plating is back online, the plasma sparklers, mine launchers, power to one third of our decks...and that's about it." Fox blinked.

"You sure you actually said anything?" he asked. Slippy rolled his eyes.

"The Grallian weapon technology is nothing to be trifled with. You need to thank Abbey that we even have a ship to come back to. I've never seen a dreadnought-class so ably maneuvered."

"Regardless, we're here now. Do you think we can get to Zoness?"

"With luck. If the engines fail, there is one thing we can do, though." Abbey came on the bridge at that moment. She grinned at Slippy. "I think they'll be failing sooner than you think. I hope you have an idea that _works._" It took Slippy a moment to decipher the insult, and by that time, Abbey was on the other side of the room. Fox chuckled.

* * *

The team had assembled on the bridge several hours later when the ship lurched and threw everyone to the floor as sparks shot from electrical relays in the ceiling and walls. A fire broke out and was quickly extinguished. 

"Engines gone." announced Abbey unnecessarily. "Nothing I could do about that. We're on maneuvering thrusters, but I have to shut them down for ten minutes every half hour to avoid overheating. It'll take us a week at this rate."

"Ship won't hold together for a week more in space, not with the hull breaches." said Fox.

"This bucket's barely able to land as is," snorted Falco. "Slippy-" he began, before he heard the closing of the lift doors. The viewscreen flickered to life as the ship jolted again. Slippy's Arwing edged in from the bottom. There was a spark of light from both sides of the engine nozzle, and a thin grey line shot from both. There was a low thud that sounded through the ship as powerful electromagnetically-reinforced grapples latched onto the hull, and the Titanian Silver shot forwards, towing a ship many times its size. Both lines snapped taut as the Great Fox dragged, but its inertia fell away as the ship picked up speed.

"Our old Arwings couldn't do that." was all Falco could say. Fox snorted.

* * *

It was only a few hours later when Slippy disengaged his grapples and returned to the hangar. Clearly exhausted, the toad nevertheless went to work on getting the ship enough power to safely reenter the atmosphere. Due to the ragged condition of its defenses, it took the team upwards of an hour to get down. The bottom wings rotated upwards and the ship set down with what was almost a tired sigh. 

Fox was moving down the corridor with the rest of his team, noting the 'windows' that had appeared in the walls. Abbey winced. As the group walked by one of the larger holes, there was a tinny shriek. Fox, Falco, and Century acted instantly. Each took down Krystal, Abbey, and Peppy respectively as the force field closing the breach collapsed and lasers rained in. The males drew weapons, even Peppy seizing a small blaster pistol from his belt as Krystal and Abbey ran down the corridor, ducking more shots as they ran to the armory. They reached a fork, and Abbey looked at Krystal. They nodded, splitting up. Abbey went towards the armory while Krystal went to the hangar to deploy a landmaster.

Century scowled. "Some reception you guys get," he snapped as his shot missed. Grallian soldiers were seemingly popping out of the ground, hurriedly putting their heads down as Fox and Falco's tight shooting pinned them down. Fox turned back briefly as he crouched behind hull plating. "There should be a few machine guns in one of the lockers near here." he said. "Grab 'em, will you?"

Before Century could ask a question, the two mercenaries had already turned their attention back outside and were hailing blue lasers down on the foe. The dog turned and went down the hall in the opposite direction of Abbey and Krystal, muttering, "Damn mercs," as he went.


	26. Wishful Thinking

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Barely a fifth of the way done with this story and I'm already storyboarding for the next installment, Red Skies. And even beyond that a bit of what may be the end of this series, Stormy Skies. I'm quite keen on using at least one character in Red Skies to honor one of my staunchest reviewers...maybe you can guess who. Taking the time to reflect back on this so far, I realize that it's been moving a tad slowly. Time to kick things into gear, and get moving! I promised somebody or other to finish this by the end of the summer, so...well, it's time for high gear!

* * *

**Chapter 23 Wishful Thinking

* * *

**The lasers simply kept coming. Although Century soon returned with the three machine guns and quite a lot more, there was simply no end to the streams of fire whizzing into their retreat. Although the hull plating was perfectly strong enough to withstand thousands of laser rounds, the flesh of the mercenaries certainly weren't, and they kept their heads down, their machine guns set up on the portable stands. 

"Fox, we could keep this up all day," said Century finally, wincing as his gun clicked on empty, the energy rounds complete. "We aren't getting any repairs here."

"Look around, Century," replied Falco. "How many Zonessian bodies do you count? If this base had been taken, there'd be a lot of bodies. There aren't any. We just got driven back, that's all. Those folks will be back."

Fox winked. "Don't doubt a bird's eyes," he said simply, then he drew his blaster again and sniped a Grallian, the soldier falling with a hole burned through his head.

It wasn't too long after when Abbey dropped down next to Falco, carrying several power cells for the machine guns, as well as one of the newer gattling guns and what even looked to be...

"You brought a _homing launcher?_" gaped Falco. "How the heck are you going to shoot that thing?"

"Watch me," shot back Abbey, and she wiggled back to the wall, braced the stock against it, and fired, the missile whizzing out through the hole and detonating upon a Grallian machine gun position.

The bullets around them lessened. Considerably. Falco had seized the gattling gun and was now eagerly spraying it about, while Fox moderated his fire more and Century even more so. The four of them were about to reload when a low rumble sounded outside.

"Whazzat?" asked Century, a quizzical look flitting across his face. Fox listened intently for a moment before he put his head down with a moan.

"Please no..." he began, trailing off when, with an explosive report, a Landmaster tank tumbled out the forward hatch and zoomed forward into the no man's land between the Great Fox and the nearest covering wall.

"Please do _not_ tell me that Krystal took off with my tank." said a very cross Fox to the helplessly giggling Abbey, who was now sitting behind the wall and well out of the way. With all their weapons now out of ammunition, they just stayed in a safe part of the corridor and listened to the screams outside. Or, in Abbey's case, sat down and laughed their head off.

It wasn't long after when the landmaster was brought back in and a very cross team watched Zonessian forces pour back into the base. It was then that Slippy decided to make a hopelessly poor entrance, emerging sleepily from an interior corridor.

"Did I miss anything?"

* * *

Only after he had thoroughly chewed out a bewildered Slippy and received assurances that the repairs on the Great Fox II had top priority did Fox allow anyone off the ship and onto the wonderland that Zoness now was. With piercingly blue skies that even Corneria couldn't claim and beaches radiating purity, it was a tourist's heaven- fortunately or unfortunately for the team. 

Fortunate, because they were able to find a luxurious hotel that didn't cost them too much (relatively speaking), and that they were able to find all the amenities afforded them at home. Unfortunate, because as soon as the civilians came out from hiding and the other bases were stormed again, word spread that the Great Fox had docked and a swarm of tourists had come either to try and strip the ship or to find the mercenaries. Falco had already hit two reports and Abbey had knocked a third, who as trying to do a story on "the latest Star Fox couple" unconscious and into the sea.

"He'll be fine, don't worry..." she said under her breath as the group walked away from a lifeguard, who was both dumbfounded that Star Fox had walked right under his nose and irritated that someone wouldn't have the common sense to at least knock people back onto the beach. Falco just opened his beak and let out a piercing laugh.

* * *

Later that night, they ate at a well-to-do seafood restaurant. The establishment itself was under the Zonessian Sea, with crystal-clear walls that offered a breathtaking view of the surrounding area. Of course, walking in through the access tunnel, it was Slippy who picked out the small laser cannons around the restaurant to drive off any inquisitive animals. 

They ate a large round booth, with Peppy and Slippy at the ends. Whether this was purposeful or not was unclear, as it did put both 'couples' together. Krystal was noting an 'rather interesting amount of patrons' who were walking aimlessly by the booth, gawking at them.

Falco just smirked. "When they aren't shoving cameras down my throat, crowds of people coming to look at me aren't that bad."

Falco said the magic word. Fox caught glimpses of reporters milling outside the restaurant almost seconds later, and he glared at the avian. "For once, I'd wish you'd keep your beak shut and let us eat something in peace."

"What'd I do?" squawked the bird indignantly. "I never said nuttin'- oh, bugger," he trailed off, for he too had seen the crowd outside. Abbey nudged him with her elbow.

"Come on, let's just eat..." she said. "I'm hungry, and while I don't have as much experience with this fame thing as you guys do, and surely there's a back exit?"

"Where Star Fox is concerned, there always is one," quipped Century good-naturedly. "I caught Fox looking briefly at the other entrances before he sat down.

"Okay, so we all have bad habits," retorted Fox, "but I'm not the one who trashed my fighter, eh?"

The two quickly fell into good-natured bickering, but this eventually pattered out and the team simply amused itself by commenting on the valiant fight the restaurant employees were waging against the reporters outside.

"That's nice of them," commented Abbey as several cooks brandishing various cutlery elements began to force the reporters from the door. They turned and went back to the kitchen with great dignity, and the maitre d' kept them out. Krystal and Fox shared grins as the otter then leaned up against Falco, who shifted uncomfortably and flushed before settling back and relaxing. The food came, and good-natured chatter once again graced the table as the mercenaries dug in.

* * *

It was quite late at night at the hotel when Fox's communicator began to beep. The vulpine rolled out of bed carefully, so as not to disturb Krystal. He padded over to the balcony and stepped outside before answering. Still fully awake, he almost groaned when he saw who it was- General Pepper. 

"Evening, general," said Fox in a tired voice. "Anything I can do for you?"

"Not at all Fox, and hello to you too," replied the mastiff, almost cheerily. Fox blinked as the man rattled on. "Just thought you'd like to know that the Grallian attack force was a minor one and they came only to try and take the Great Fox. There isn't anything else to worry about. Now, goodnight!"

And with that, the general signed off, leaving a very bewildered Fox to climb back into bed.

* * *

The team was awoken in the morning by Solar's rays, which cast a golden glow through each of their rooms. It seemed like a perfect day was in the offing, but dull rumbles in the distance after breakfast ended the picturesque scene. A heavy thunderstorm was brewing, and not just outdoors. Fox McCloud, upon learning that there would be delays on the repairs to his ship, was not a happy man. He stormed through the hotel in a rage, and everybody stayed clear of him other than Krystal, who was unsuccessfully trying to get her friend to cheer up. 

With the prospects of a lazy day outdoors out of the question, Slippy went back to the Great Fox and managed to procure the Jet Lag and a transport ship. He and Century were soon in the hotel's garage, loaned to them by a very interested hotelier. Abbey and Falco were nowhere in sight, as a snickering Century remarked to Slippy while they worked on his ship.

"Yeah, well, can otters fly?" asked Slippy nonchalantly. It would be an innocent remark had it come from anyone else, and Century laughed all the harder for it as he boosted Slippy up.

"You must wish you could," he remarked. "See anything?"

"Yeah, your processing conduit's fried, and it looks like your engine relays are completely burned out, or...holy night, it's been completely blown out!"

"Ah, figures," groused the dog. "Those were all custom-made."

"Don't worry," said Slippy. "I'll work something out. And if you want to fly...well..." he broke off with a glint in his eyes. Century dropped him immediately.

"Spill it!" he barked. Slippy rolled over and laughed, standing up with a bounce.

"Fox is considering inviting you to the team," said the toad with a beaming grin. "We had a meeting about it last night. Fox admired how you handled yourself out there and all." When Century remained silent, Slippy's grin faded. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing..." said Century, his eyes becoming distant. "It's a great offer...but it'd mean leaving the Jet Lag, and all that..."

Slippy's eyes widened. "Oh, no, you wouldn't be forced or anything!" he said, words tumbling together. "You'd be free to fly what you wanted- with our paint scheme, of course."

Century laughed and gave Slippy a playful shove that bowled the toad over. Quickly dropping into a combat roll and getting up again, the mechanic waved his hands animatedly. "Ah, nothing," said Century. "I'll have my answer soon. Though I think you know what it is." He raised his hands as Slippy opened his mouth. "Not a word, now! Let's get back to fixing this. Otherwise in the meantime, I'll be flying an Arwing, beauties they are."

Slippy practically managed to leap onto the engine for the repairs, Century deferring to the much nimbler toad. It wasn't long before a relieved Krystal and a calm Fox came by to lend a hand. Falco and Abbey were next, though Century jibed with some amusement that both were sweating profusely.

"Beat off!" said Falco when the hound inquired. "Abbey has a mean backhand in tennis." The otter gave an almost feral grin before it softened into something more gleeful. She waved her rudder at Falco.

"If I was playing with my rudder, I'd have you out like a light!" she said. "As it was," she said, facing the rest, "I beat him from a deuce."

Fox whistled. "Nice." He passed a wrench up to Slippy as he continued. "Falco, pray tell me, how did you lose to Abbey if you can beat me?"

"Maybe you'd like to take a swing at it," groused the avian before bad temperedly hurling a spare part at the offender. Fox McCloud merely rolled out of the way and continued working in good cheer. The odd reporter stumbled by dripping wet to watch the repair work, but none stayed too long. Pictures in the rain did not look all that impressive, nor were they befitting to Lylat's heroes.

Still, a crowd did form, mostly mechanics and other technical workers who were interested in watching how others did their craft. And these were the best. Most people going into engineering practically worshipped Slippy Toad, the young man who had held Star Fox together, quite literally, and still had the time to develop the Saurian translator and much else. In fact, he was worshipped in almost every academic field there was.

The work on the Jet Lag was finished with a whirlwind of activity- so fast, that Century found himself wringing his paws and wishing the work had taken longer. "Where'd you guys learn to do that?" he asked, looking at the clock. Barely five hours.

Fox leaned on a support pillar. "If you had no money and needed to fly an Arwing everywhere," he remarked dryly, "you'd hope you'd know how to put it back together if you lost something." Krystal blushed slightly as Century nodded.

"I defer to that." he said. There was some silence, then he brightened. "Come on, let's go in now." And with that, the sodden group of mercenaries trooped indoors to leave a gaping crowd to stare at the polished Jet Lag- with the engines offline to prevent thievery.

Some habits just died hard.


	27. Skidding Home

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Started a kind of summer school for web design and chemistry. As far as web design goes, who knows, maybe Black Skies will get a website! That'd be nice. I also liked GL's idea of cover art. Maybe I'll take a stab at it, despite my poor graphics skills. Heh, I suck with art. 

I also read the Infinity series. Now, that is something you _must_ read. Those five stories, culminating with Eternity's Test are possibly one of the greatest series I've seen, coming close to if not surpassing the Vanguard trilogy. Leaves me wondering if I can match this.

The end of Black Skies itself is within sight now, despite the fact that the story is only around twenty percent done. There aren't many grey zones left, so the updates should start coming faster. Extensive storyboarding has already begun for Red Skies, with the team names and assignments filled. Congratulations as well for V-Starfox, as her name will be used for one of the lead characters. Artistic Tuba's own Century Shorehm's descendant is also another lead. The series name has been officially chosen- Skies of Time. Anyway, back to the story. This chapter is dedicated in part to those who died in the Brazillian plane crash today.

* * *

**Chapter 24 Skidding Home**

* * *

As far as habits that died hard, early risings were one of the few permanently ingrained into every team member's head. But it was clear to the others that two of their number had been up far earlier then the rest, judging by the voices from the kitchenette. Krystal and Abbey sleepily poked their heads around a corner to find Fox and Century sitting at a table, paws clasped before them. Fox looked up and saw Krystal, his expression brightening. He motioned for her and Abbey to take seats as well. When they'd done so, he spoke in a cheery voice. 

"Century here," he nodded, "has received and accepted the offer to become a member of Star Fox." The vulpine grinned broadly as the others moved to shake the canine's paw. As the rest of the team stumbled in, they got the same introduction. As they sat around to a home-made breakfast from Abbey and Peppy, Slippy couldn't risk taking a jibe.

"At this rate, Star Fox will be a privately-owned army."

"Ah, I don't think Pepper would let us get that far," Krystal replied, spreading jam on toast. "After all, he's got two Star Foxes to worry about already." Seeing Fox's face flicker in surprise, she jabbed a thumb at the communicator built into the wall. "I heard something yesterday but it slipped my mind. Your dad and Pigma are reforming the old Star Fox, and they've already acquired- with Cornerian funding- another dreadnought. Same model as this one n' all." The vixen turned from a dumbfounded Fox to Peppy. "And you're rejoining them." she said kindly.

"One doesn't need to be a telepath to figure that one out," said Peppy with a chuckle. "I'm old," he continued, sitting down with a short sigh, "but there's a part of me that misses the excitement of mercenary life." He turned his gaze on Fox. "You, of all people, should know that."

Fox smiled slightly. "If you're referring to the Lylat War, that was one contract I might've gone without."

"But that was the one that brought this team to fame, wasn't it?" inquired Krystal. "Why would you not have liked it?"

"Because it was a tough mission. I was wondering if someone would die every three seconds," said Fox. "Not to mention keeping my own tail alive. There were fights that the Cornerian Army could've gone into and never come out of, but we had to do both. That, _and _advance through enemy territory."

"Even then," took up Falco, "we were worrying about being surrounded and taken down, hit from the back. Our rush to Venom caught up to us at Sector Z."

"Six anti-cruiser missiles," said Slippy with a grim light in his eyes. "They would've taken us out had they not been staggered."

"Then there was Venom itself," continued Fox. "The fight with Star Wolf..."

"You're leaving something out," said Krystal. "Your fight with Andross?" Fox grimaced, and turned away.

"It's something I don't want to talk about," he said, not meeting Krystal's eyes. The vixen tried to read Fox's thoughts, but was deflected somehow. Her muzzle creased briefly, then she let it go.

Breaking the silence, Peppy produced a deck of cards. "Anyone up for a game?"

* * *

It was some time later before an irate Falco and Abbey escaped the hotel, Peppy and Krystal having won half the hands each. Falco rented a hovercar and went for a leisurely drive around the city, cold rain spattering on the car top. Abbey shivered slightly as she watched the rain fall. Buildings and faceless beings were whisked through her vision as the hovercar meandered through the streets. She felt a pang of homesickness strike her then. Everything was alien to her, even though this was her home system. The only links she had to her home were the articles in her room...and the avian beside her. Falco banked the hovercar to the right gently, turning towards the repair base where the Great Fox was docked. The ship showed up first only as a hulking outline against the clouds, clearing slowly as the hovercar drew closer. Falco did a slow circle around the cruiser, noting the lack of guards with some derision. That gave way to sorrow as he grasped the altitude control and brought the hovercar up. Gaping holes in the ship were covered by wetly-flapping tarpaulins that rustled with the wind. The engines were dark, water pooling in the barrels. The G-Diffusers that usually glowed with a bright green were silent, a dark blue reflecting the mood of the day. One plasma cannon was burst apart, cracks running along its barrel and blue plasma flickering through. Exposed wires sparked all along the hull's length, and the plating faintly glowed blue as the polarization system short-circuited. In some places, the outer plating had been stripped away by laser fire, exposing the grid of supports beneath. The ship seemed to groan with the wind as Falco guided the hovercar into the auxiliary hangar.

* * *

Abbey stepped out as the lights snapped on, Falco close behind her. They walked past the row of Mark III Arwings, sitting silently on their racks. Some tools lay discarded where they'd fallen. Various articles had fallen off shelves and lay strewn upon the ground. Blown relays dangled from the ceiling and walls, sparking occasionally. Corridor terminals were dark, some with cracked screens or smoking circuitry. The lifts weren't to be trusted, so the two went down the stairs. Abbey poked her head into the engine room and pulled it out just as quickly. The chamber had been an utter mess, with what looked like half of the central engine scattered around the room. Sparks danced everywhere and wires dangled like stricken snakes. 

Falco unconsciously guided them towards the personal quarters. They turned a corner when a short-circuiting relay blew out the panel in front of them, igniting in a heap of flame and electricity. Falco ran back to grab a fire extinguisher and quickly smothered the flames. He swore.

"Bah, hard to believe this thing will fly again," he spat, looking around. A lightbulb flickered, on its last legs. Wreckage was strewn all over the ship, and most of the systems were gone. He ducked into his quarters and looked about- it was no messier than before.

"Because there's no way in hell it could be," concluded Abbey as they moved to the bridge. Both of them stopped as the ship groaned and shuddered. The movement stopped, and they continued on their way.

Stepping onto the bridge, Abbey looked down from the raised command platform. The bridge had been tidied up and was probably the most functional room there was. Falco crossed over to a terminal and flipped several switches. Power rushed from the damaged power core into the room, and lights and consoles snapped on. Abbey looked around in amazement.

"She still works..." she breathed, turning in place. Then she was thrown down by a violent lurch. Falco caught her before she hit the ground, already looking up as her movement was arrested. They scrambled up as the ship rocked again. Abbey braced herself next to a terminal as another violent tremor raced through the ship. "What's going on?"

Falco fought his way over to the surveillance controls and flipped on the external cameras, opening the viewpanes as he did. They looked out onto a windswept Zoness. Abbey blinked as the rain sheeted down almost horizontally. She couldn't focus. She closed her eyes and counted ten before looking out again just in time to hear a ferocious snap. Falco assessed the situation in the blink of an eye.

"We've lost a mooring cable!" he called. There was another snap, then another, and yet another. "The wind's pushing us about!"

"The _wind?_" shrieked Abbey. The ship began to rumble as it began to tip, sparks flying as it started to skid slowly across the slicked ground. Alarms began to sound. "Falco! Get me hull plating and thrusters, _now!_"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Falco in a snide voice. He tapped keys furiously, trying to bring up the right screens. "Damn, which one...gotcha!" He grasped a lever and pulled it down. There was a roar and a massive explosion of sparks behind him as the damaged ship struggled to comply. Then it was done, a low hum suffusing the air as electricity raced through the hull plating. The thrusters flared, retro rockets firing into the air before them. The Great Fox's progress was arrested for a moment. The wind abated, then kicked back up with a screaming cry. The ship began to gain momentum, sparks flying from her underbelly as the retro rockets feebly fired once more, then died.

Falco was running through subroutines as he began trying to get the ship airborne, but Abbey slapped him aside with a sweep of her rudder. "We'll be ripped apart!" she yelled as means of explanation. The otter dropped into the pilot chair, grasped the flight yoke, and heaved to the left. The maneuvering thrusters fired, kicking up something akin to an electrical storm as the Great Fox spun a grating turn into the wind. Instantly, its progress towards the base halted, the ship settling with a groan. Abbey blinked, then looked weakly at Falco. "Looks like we did it."

After hailing a frantic Fox to let him know the two were staying the night, Falco leaned back in his chair and closed down the comm system with a sigh. He rubbed his eyes. "Stupid idiots," he said. "Let's see how they'd repair the Great Fox after it careened into their base."

That night, Falco joined Abbey in her quarters for shuteye. They lay in silence for some time, adrenaline and something else racing through their veins. The silence was fast becoming strained. Abbey wasn't even sure if this was proper. Then Falco gave a bark and they both dissolved into laughter. The tension faded away faster then the rain outside, and they embraced happily. Then, lulled by meaningless chatter and the monotonous pattering of the rain outside, they slipped into sleep.

Falco left bed only one time else that night, to turn the ship into the wind again. This time, though, he railed against the base commander for a few minutes for his carelessness before padding back down the hall to Abbey's room and laying beside the otter. He blinked sleepily and fell back into slumber.

Outside, the wind screamed and tore, but the Great Fox sat on her haunches and weathered the storm. Lightning and win could rage and thunder, but tonight, there was nothing else they could do to the cruiser. After all, security could be found in metal walls...and in a lover's embrace.


	28. The Six Revisited

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: I've been trying to get into a good story rotation, so once I update Black Skies, you'll have to wait for me to go through Defiance, Through Unheard Eyes, Inversion (Star Trek: Enterprise), and any other oneshots before I get back. Still, I hope to make the rotation fast. Thanks for reviewing, notfromearth7. I've been attending several summer classes at another's insistence, and I daresay that web design is quite fun. I actually have a passable website for Black Skies. Adding to that, I can actually code something in CSS/HTML. It's actually quite fun. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 25 The Six Revisited**

* * *

It was very early in the morning when Abbey and Falco awoke, both yawning and stretching sleepily. Although Falco nearly struck Abbey in the face, the otter didn't mind- it just gave her another reason to force herself out of her warm bed and begin the day. She looked at the chronometer, which read something to the tune of 5:30 AM. Groaning tiredly, she rolled over halfway and slid from the beneath the covers. Falco soon joined her when he himself rolled too far and fell from the bed with a muffled oath and crashing of feathers. Abbey giggled slightly before she opened the door. The lights increased in intensity as she did so, and the otter winced, shielding her eyes. She washed up quickly and left the room, leaving a harassed-looking Falco to comb his feathers. 

She padded down the hallways towards the auxiliary launch bay, gingerly picking her way past yet more fallen debris. Starting up the rented hovercar and feeling that she'd get quite a mouthful from the rental service, she pondered waiting for Falco. Eventually, she decided for it and sat still for awhile, just looking out through the hangar doors and surveying the land, clean, fresh, and sparkling. Nothing to say for the violence of the previous night- nothing at all.

It wasn't long before Falco was up and ready to leave- he was perfectly content with letting Abbey doing the driving as the otter eased the car from the hangar. As the car dropped to ground level, Falco spotted what looked like reporters at the base gates, and he motioned to Abbey to drive the other way. As they cruised along, Falco winced at the damage- much of the base's landing pad was torn up and scorched. And that was nothing compared to the underside of the Great Fox, which was scorched, buckled, cracked, and burned. He looked at Abbey. "Looks like we won't be getting off the ground for awhile yet," he groused. She smiled sheepishly.

"It'd have taken longer had we let the ship flip," she reminded him, before she floored the accelerator and Falco was thrown back into his seat by the force, leaving behind a still Great Fox with the acrid smell of burning metal wafting about it.

* * *

Day by day, the repairs on the Great Fox went on. The ship was lifted up into a drydock, suspended by powerful tractor beams and supported from beneath magnetically. Scaffolding went up as new hull plating was lifted into place and old plating was polished and reinforced. Workers removed miles upon miles of burnt out circuitry, and everything that was even damaged in the least was stripped out and repaired. New types of hull plating were added in various places and the weapons were improved. Zonessian workers had heard a detailed account of the battle from Falco, who was only too happy to gripe about the Great Fox's relative lack of protection. Within three days, the number of mine, torpedo, and plasma sparklers on the ship had nearly doubled, and other workers had thoughtfully added six streaming arrays, two mounted on the front, and one omni-directional array on each wing near the first bend. The wings also housed a variant of the focal laser- four smaller focal lasers that would train on the same spot briefly. The ship would be able to target these individually as well, but the effect would be marginal at best, considering the relative inaccuracy of the weapons. Fox, Slippy, and especially Falco were pleased to find the new weapons. Work then began on overhauling the engines and retro rockets. The Zonessian base buzzed with reporters and repair workers, and occasionally, the Star Fox team. 

Not that they weren't enjoying themselves elsewhere as well. Abbey and Falco had later gone out again to race with aqua skimmers, while most of the others joined Peppy to go fishing. The old hare was still clearly the master at this, and he bagged three good snappers in comparison to Fox's two and Slippy's one. Krystal wasn't able to get a bite at all.

* * *

Days went on as work at the base continued. Solar's burning rays rained down upon the coasts and cities, and on some days, one could literally see steam rising from the seas. On the worst days, the construction had to be stopped for the workers health. Day by day, the scaffolding around the Great fox began to come down, and soon, the dreadnought was cleared for action, standing alone in the dry dock. Tractor beams eased the ship forward to a docking reticule, and there, Star Fox boarded her, their vacation at Zoness drawing to an end.

* * *

Peppy wrinkled his nose when the group stepped onto the bridge. The smell of new plastic and wiring was unmistakable, and it hung heavy on the air. Though none of them were fond of the pungent scent, they suffered it with stoic silence. They settled into their consoles, Fox and Peppy once again sitting at the dramatically raised command platform. Abbey was in the forward row of pilot consoles, with Falco and Slippy beside her. Century Shorehm now stood in the back of the room, now manning the damage-control station, while Krystal sat close behind Fox at communications. The cheery atmosphere of Star Fox once again returned to the bridge as power surged through new conduits. A loud hum signaled the engine initialization. Dockyard workers scrambled away as the G-Diffuser rings around each of the engines powered up, color surging into them, their green glow projecting a faint haze behind the ship. A ball of glowing energy, connected to the rims of the engine ports by four crackling strands of electricity formed close to the port lip, glowing a cheery red. Then, as workers stuffed paws into their ears, the engines activated with a fantastic roar. The red globes of energy were swept away by the surge of ions, caught in the tide as if by some massive flood. The dancing ion flames of purple and blue flared sharply, a corona of white light blazing out from the three engines. The ship lurched as it broke free of tractor beams, and Abbey eased it out a bit forward before she gunned the engine. 

The effect was instantaneous. A huge blaze of power gushed from the engine ports in a dazzling show of pyrotechnics, the cool ion flames ripping out of the engines and changing color to deep blue. The Great Fox rammed her way through the atmosphere, air currents parting before her piercing prow like snow from a snowplow. The leading face of each wing glowed red, then seemed to burst into flame as the friction built up. The flames abated and died down almost as fast as they had formed as the atmosphere slipped away. Abbey panned the viewscreen- the wings were undamaged.

"Thank heaven for small favors," she heard Slippy mutter, and the otter had to grin at that. Fox ordered a course laid in to Venom for a routine flyby, and it wasn't long before the Great Fox was winging its way away from Zoness.

* * *

They had scarcely been in flight more then an hour at low warp when Slippy looked up from a console, concern on his face. He disappeared into the shadow of the command platform, ascending the stairs up to its level and walking to where Fox was. The toad glanced about before he reported his findings. 

"Fox, there are ships ahead in Area 6. And they're marked with Venomian transponders."

Fox's jaw nearly hit the floor before his feet as he leapt up from his chair to go crashing down to the systems pit.

* * *

"There," said Slippy some minutes later. He pointed at a defensive perimeter of red dots on the radar screen. A much larger icon indicated that a new Bolse had been installed as well. Fox was grinding his teeth. 

"We have to worry about some jacked-up Andross wannabe?" he growled. "This just made my day. Falco!" he called. "Arm the weapon systems and torpedo launchers."

"Weapons will be online in a minute, Foxie!"

"Abbey, bring us into their line. If they fire, we'll blow them out of the sky."

"On it." The Great Fox changed course and rolled slightly into a more favorable firing position, It wasn't long before Slippy announced that they had come into visual range, and he put the image up on the main viewscreen. Fox looked up from the systems pit, and his heart leapt to his mouth.

It was worse then the radar screen indicated. A gigantic line of ships stretched across the spatial horizon, great behemoths that looked to be at least three times the size of the Great Fox. All around them, cloaked ships were falling into sight, smaller destroyer vessels armed with anti-ship missiles and cannons, along with the standard anti-fighter turrets. Fox turned to Slippy. "Can you scan them for weaknesses?" he asked. The toad nodded, turning to his station. He was done by the time Fox was back to his command platform.

"No weak points detectable from this range." The vulpine turned to Peppy, who was lost in thought, watching the cruisers.

"Any ideas, Peppy?" he asked in a polite voice, so as not to startle the hare from his reverie. Peppy's ears twitched slightly.

"They aren't out to kill us," he said finally. "This is an aggressive defense perimeter- unless we shoot, they won't. We should probably be getting a hail warning that this is restricted space within a few minutes." Fox was about to reply when a beep came from Krystal's console. He shook his head.

"How the devil did you know that?"

"Star Fox flew many missions before we went to Venom that first time," replied Peppy easily. "Now, try to handle this with something better then an insult and a laser bullet."

"That's asking a lot," countered the vulpine. "I'll only promise to refrain from the lasers." Krystal put the communication onscreen. Everyone stared at it for a moment. Fox was floored. Area 6- okay. But the visage on the screen had to be some horrible malfunction. Andross cocked an eyebrow at him and turned his head.

"Mister McCloud, a pleasure to see you," he said. "Unfortunately, you have caught me at a bad time." Everyone on the bridge was worried when they noticed a twitching tic developing on Fox's face- the vulpine was about to explode when Peppy put a calming paw on his shoulder. Fox was breathing heavily as he made a brusque gesture to Krystal to cut the channel.

"Bring us into orbit," he said. "And if those cruisers make so much as a move, shoot them. Andross is going to get one helluva shi-," he paused, before, closing his maw and vanishing from the bridge. Krystal exchanged a pained look with Abbey as the vixen too left the room. There was almost absolute silence in the room once the hiss of the closing door had faded away.


	29. Chance Invasion

**Black Skies**

* * *

Author's Note: Ah, well. It would appear that Andross is now back in the game! You now see, that was one of the main points of this book. I simply tried to make it less then obvious. Andross will not be playing a major role in this conflict, but for one- he will prevent Lylat from being assuaged on two fronts by two very deadly enemies. There will also be one other interesting sequence, but its full measure will only be revealed in Red Skies. And without further ado, here is the next chapter of Black Skies, back now after a long wait.

* * *

**Chapter 26 Chance Invasion

* * *

**Krystal had wandered the halls of the Great Fox for some time. The others, she was sure, were tending to their jobs. Abbey would be cautiously eking the ship into Venomian airspace. Falco would be standing at his post, doubtless already locking weapons on as many enemy ships as he could. And Slippy would be busy raising Corneria, waiting for a response while retuning the shield grid. 

Meanwhile, she was here looking for Fox. And the most she was able to find of the vulpine was not much. The tip of his tail, flitting around a corner. A closing lift door, or a flicker of light.

Finally, she came to a room with the door closed, a room she knew had but one entrance. She keyed in her access code and was not at all to find that the door had been locked.

No matter, she knew. She put in a quick hail to Slippy, and the toad on the bridge diverted his attention for the briefiest of moments as he overrode Fox's lockout. Krystal barely had the time to say thanks before Slippy turned from the screen to run his webbed fingers over another set of buttons and screens.

Krystal opened the now unlocked doors with the touch of a button and went inside.

There was a loud and sharp crack as Krystal slipped into the room, and she started slightly as the sound echoed off the walls. Fox was before her, a long rod in one hand. He stood at the billiard table, his cue smacking into the white ball as it ricocheted around the table. Today, the cue ball tore about with an angry hiss as the other balls meekly tumbled into side pockets with dull thumps. Krystal gave a nervous cough. Fox looked up, his face blanked of all emotion.

"It's you," he said un a toneless voice. Krystal winced slightly. There was no anger, no grief. There was simply nothing, a strange apathy.

No, not apathy. The word was shock.

Krystal looked at Fox, examining him with a thoughtful expression on her features as the vulpine continued to stride around the table, putting more of the balls in their places with loud cracks. The movements he made were smoth, deft, and controlled. Not at all like the emotion he'd shown on the bridge just minutes ago.

"Your father is back," she said after a time. "You are still angry at him?"

Fox shook his head. Krystal could now feel the ambient feelings about him change, spikes of anger rushing through him. "If there's one thing I don't think Cernia understood, it would be revenge. He took my father from me, and I do not care if my father is back, Andross will pay for the suffering he caused to my team and I, as well as countless others, during the Lylat War."

Krystal took this in, then spoke again. "I understand revenge quite as well as you do," she began in a quiet voice, "but your anger is misguided."

"Oh?" snapped back the vulpine, looking at her with a furious gaze on his face. But the vixen did not back down- she held her ground as she delivered her news.

"The Andross who hailed us and the Andross you fought over Sauria- they are not the same person."

Fox's gaze ascended from his cue, to the table, then to Krystal. He put up his cue, letting it clack against the floor.

"Do tell," he said, sitting at a chair and propping one foot up on his knee. "I have time."

* * *

It was only a few minutes later when Krystal, now sitting, finished her narrative. Fox put a paw to his chin thoughtfully. "I killed Andross, twice. But..." 

"Only one-half of him," replied Krystal. "I believe I can explain for this. A Cernian left our homeworld for exploration many years ago, maybe at the time of your Lylat War, probably before. He would have been able to draw out Andross's soul into two separate vessels."

"To what end, though?" mused Fox.

"I do not profess to know," replied Krystal, "but had he not done so, Andross would be dead right now."

* * *

It was a much calmer Fox who returned to the bridge. Immediately, the rest of his crew had ducked, as if expecting to be hit by a thunderbolt. Slippy had almost cowered down beside his chair, and Falco had turned away slightly while Abbey had hunched down meekly. Fox gave a chuckle, and the ice was broken 

"Relax guys," he said. "I'm feeling better now. Krys, open a channel to Andross. Tell him I wish to come down and talk to him a bit."

Everyone could tell that there was a slightly forced bit of optimism in the vulpine's voice. But it wasn't much, and Krystal opened the requested channel without too much fear that this would descend into a shouting match.

"Ah, mister McCloud. Glad you could rejoin us," said Andross in a suave voice soon after the channel was established. Fox nodded at the ape.

"The same of you, Andross. Might I request to go to the planet's surface to talk with you, face to face? There are some questions I should like to ask of you."

Andross spread his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "By all means," he said, and then the ape closed the channel. Krystal shrugged when Fox looked at her.

"I don't know if he's genuinely friendly to you now or not. He's a telepath, remember?"

"Fox, you should take at least one person with you," said Peppy, turning to face his younger colleague. Fox inclined his head towards the hare.

"Would you mind?"

"Not at all," replied Peppy in a cheery voice. "It's high time I got back in an Arwing, anyway." The only answer the old hare received to this was the sound of laughter from those assembled.

* * *

It was not too long afterwards when two Arwings flew from the underslung hangar of the Great Fox II, wings snapping open with a mechanical click that was unheard in the unforgiving vacuum of space. A cool flame flashed from the sterns of both Arwings, a trail of white-tinted ions that sprayed out into the night to be lost from sight. 

"You ready, Peppy?" asked Fox. The vulpine was harboring some worries that the older hare would not take the shock of reentry unfazed. Peppy nodded his whiskery head.

"As Beltino likes to say, fresh out of bed and full of beans. The doctors at Corneria know their stuff."

"Glad to hear it," replied Fox, and there was no more talk as both ships approached the outer fringes of Venom's atmosphere. A tiny trace of flame raced across Fox's canopy, a streak of crimson red. Then a low pitched whine began to build up in the cockpit, and Fox felt a bead of sweat drip from his forehead to his muzzle. It was like a signal- with an explosive lurch, the Arwing was grabbed by the powerful hand of the atmosphere. A spray of angry flames abruptly erupted from the nose of the Krystal Fire, several yards from Fox. These licked up against his canopy, then began to drift away into a cone shape as his rate of descent began to increase, angling steeper towards the planet's surface. The shields caused the flames to biouvac around the Arwing's prow, but it could not stop the heat from penetrating the cockpit. Fox flipped a switch in front of him, and he nodded, grateful for the refreshing blast of chilly air that struck him in the face.

* * *

"His vitals are okay," said Slippy, carefully monitoring the two as Abbey, Century, and Falco looked on. "Fox's temperature is going down and Peppy's never went up." 

"Figures," said Falco. Century turned his head to face the avian.

"Well, it doesn't seem like Peppy would be apt to go down into a planet at something akin to a fourty-five degree angle," he remarked conversationally. Falco grunted as Abbey continued to look on.

"Fox's pulse is rising. He must be leveling out now," she said, pointing at his display.

* * *

Fox indeed was pulling up now, the flames of reentry flickering and dying away. Smoke wisped from the front of his Arwing, but it lasted for only a short moment before it was blown away completely. Fox checked his systems, and was pleased to find there was no harm to any of them. 

The vulpine looked up through his canopy and saw a long streak of fire that was Peppy's Arwing, still arcing through the sky.

"Show off," he muttered, then he slammed the throttle forwards as he took off in pursuit of the daredevil hare.

It was almost ten minutes later when Peppy finally emerged from his fireball, black smoke roiling away like a shroud from the Legacy. A small fire sputtered near the cockpit, then went out with a puff of dark smoke.

"You took your own sweet time," said Fox with a tiny grumble. Peppy's ears perked up and he grinned over the channel.

"I believe so, but I just set the reentry time record," he said. Fox shook his head.

"Crazy old codger...that's why you wanted to come, wasn't it?" Peppy answered only with a short bark of laughter. His ears flew back and he was pressed to his seat as he flicked the throttle open with practiced ease, a throaty roar blasting from his engines as the ion stream brightened and he shot away, the glowing white particles spinning and spiraling through the air before they faded away.

* * *

It was not long after when they came to Venom City. The last time Fox had seen it, he'd remembered it as a bleak settlement of dust-scoured and sun-bleached pyramids around the dome-like base that led to Andross's lair. Cracked and patched streets had wound their way through the dead establishment, one of two civilians wandering across their lengths aimlessly. 

Now, the city was a thriving metropolis. Instead of rebuilding, the city had moved, moved away from the charred and blackened skeleton that was the remants of the dome Fox had pierced all those years ago. Now, polished duraluminum, reflecting a homey, dusty red glow rose into the sky, tall pillars of glass and metal stabbing into the sky. Gone were the three military bases that had once ringed the old city. Instead, only a single base, standing next to a magnificent capital building stood as a remnant of Andross's army of old. And as the two Arwings flew over the city, Fox could spy patches of green amidst the grey and brown- parks and gardens. Peppy took in an audible breath.

"Astounding," he murmured. "To think Andross..." he trailed off. Fox had explained the concept of the Split, but he too found it hard to believe that beneath that arrogant façade, there was a benevolent leader one who cared for those under him.

This moment of philosophical observation passed when, with a crackle, a Venomian contacted both Arwings with directions to a landing pad. As the Krystal Fire and the Legacy circled inwards, shedding altitude with each pass, Peppy realized that the voice was that of Caiman. Fox rolled his eyes.

Could he kill anyone?

* * *

A blast of hot air ruffled the fur on Fox's head as his cockpit slid open, tiny grains of sand striking him in the face. "Some things never change," he groused, swinging himself out of the narrow space and landing with a solid thump on the ground below. He moved at a quick pace over to the Legacy, so as to assist the elderly hare from his seat. When both were firmly upon the ground, they headed towards where a mouse with dusty-brown fur was beckoning to them, standing over a turbolift. 

The lift had been falling at a steady pace for almost a minute when it began to slow. Fox's knees buckled almost imperceptibly as the gravity in the car spiked upwards. The car doors shot open with a well-oiled hiss, and the three of them stepped out.

They had emerged into a softly-lit corridor. A low hum told Peppy that there were ventilation fans here, circulating the air and adding a refreshingly cool edge to the breeze. He adjusted his spectacles and nodded to Fox, and the vulpine fell into step beside the hare.

Their mouse guide led them to another lift that led, without a doubt, to the great marble building they'd seen earlier. Here, the mouse turned to a security guard, then back to the mercenaries. He made a small nod.

"Your weapons, please?" he asked. Fox looked incredulous.

"You've got to be joking," he said, paw straying to his belt holster. "You can't expect us to hand our weapons to you!"

"I can, and I will," replied the mouse, a firm tone creeping into his voice. He extended a paw. Fox whirled when a sharp click sounded behind him, but it was only Peppy, loosening his belt and unclipping his holster.

"Peppy, you've got to be kidding me," he snapped. The hare shrugged.

"If they wanted to kill us, they would have already," he said in a level voice. The mouse looked grateful as he took the holster, turning back to Fox. The vulpine heaved a dramatic sigh.

"I suppose I can break your neck with my paws anyway," he said in a consending tone. The mouse wrinkled his nose, whiskers twitching.

"I don't doubt it," was his only comment. "This way, please," he continued, before turning and cuing the lift.

As the three got in, Peppy glanced at Fox through the corners of his eyes. "Good for you, because I don't think I could," he commented in a wry tone that caused Fox to laugh mirthlessly, the sound echoing off the metal walls as the lift doors clanged shut.

After suffering the slow warming of the lift car, Fox expected to be greeted by a waft of cool air. Too late he noticed the mouse scooting to one side of the car. Peppy had noticed and moved to do the same, making a tiny gesture to Fox.

The vulpine was about to question his guide when the lift doors flew open and a gust of chilly air hit the vulpine in the face, causing him to stagger back slightly. The pressure quickly equalized in the little space, and the mouse wrinkled his nose again and left the lift. Peppy followed, in turn being trailed by a red-faced vulpine.

The marble building was about as cold as the walk-in refrigerator at the supermarket near Fox and Krystal's home. A flow of even cooler air wafted through the hallways, making their fur stand on end. Peppy shivered slightly, his ears drooping. The mouse noted this, and kindly informed him that Andross's office, not far ahead, was fairly warm.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd made a friend," cajoled Fox, a faint smile playing about his lips.

"Thank goodness for small favors," replied Peppy, teeth chattering auidibly now. "E-else I'll t-take a leaf out of Slippy's book and go into hibernation."

Fox shrugged in amusement and continued on.

* * *

"Fox McCloud." 

"Andross."

Peppy stood in silence next to the door, his old eyes watching the scene before him. Standing over the emblem of Venom emblazoned into the floor were the two heroes of their planets. Andross Oikonny, leader, emperor, caretaker. Fox McCloud, icon, pilot, and savior. A silence fell on the room as both contemplated and examined the other in peaceful quiet. The seconds passed, then Andross wordlessly extended one paw.

Fox hesitated for a moment, then reached out with his own paw, shaking the proffered appendage.

It was a few minutes latter that found the three seated around a table crowded with data pads and small plates of food. Andross picked at one of these in a delicate manner before sweeping them to one side and placing both elbows upon the tabletop.

"I apologize for the mess," he said in a gravelly voice. "I have been quite busy, what with our fight for independence."

"Do explain," said Fox, gazing levelly at Andross. "You said independence?"

"Indeed," responded the ape, standing slowly to cross to a large viewscreen on the wall. He pressed a button, and the device whirred to life, system messages and lines of code flashing across its surface before an image swam into focus. It was a view of space, looking away from Lylat and into the cosmos.

"I don't see anything," said Peppy, squinting.

"Your eyes or mine?" replied Andross in a conversational tone. He pressed a button, and the screen image soared in towards a particular point in space as Andross explained the view.

"It's a surveilence satellite. I've needed them since the first attacks began. Watch," he continued, pressing another button. The satellite continued to magnify an image. At long last, something came into view.

Fox focused upon the blurred object. It was moving, undoubtedly towards Venom. But the satellite was not producing a clear enough image for recognition. Andross worked at the screen for several more seconds until the satellite focused, bringing the image to such clarity that the identity of the oncoming object was unmistakable.

"You're kidding me," groaned Peppy, voice low and strained. Fox slammed his paw upon the tabletop.

"Nothing in this galaxy can be easy, can it?"

"Perhaps," remarked Andross, turning back to the two seated at his table. "Now, I've heard of your great victory, but perhaps you could explain what Aparoids are doing, attacking my home?"


	30. Chain Reaction

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: I had just finished posting Chance Invasion (Ch. 26) when I looked sat my stats page. As of Monday, August 13th, Black Skies has reached dour thousand hits! Thank you all, and a special thanks to these reviewers who made it all possible: 

-V-Starfox

-notfromEarth7

-Artistic Tuba

-SF Ghost

-LilGStryker

Big thanks to all of you. And now, we have reached the turning point for Book I: Lylat. No, this is no longer about the Grallian War, but now, the Second Aparoid War! Featuring prominently now will be Venom, Sauria, and the long-lost Cernia.

We'll be getting back to the Grallian War after this. And please, before you read, I know this might be a spoiler, so if you don't want to have a spoiler for the chapter, don't read this, just scroll down.

* * *

-Spoiler- 

(I)')m) )s)o)r)r)y) )t)o) )a)n)y) )S)l)i)p)p)y) )f)a)n)s) )o)u)t) )t)h)e)r)e),) )b)u)t) )I) )h)a)d) )t)o) )d)o) )i)t).)

-End Spoiler-

* * *

**Chapter 27 Chain Reaction**

* * *

"How long has this been going on?" inquired Fox. Andross ran a paw through his white headfur as he pondered on the question. 

"The first inklings of trouble began about three months ago," he said after some deliberation. "The first attack was three months ago. A patrol ship was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Andross heaved a sigh. "The crew was slaughtered, but one of them managed to get to a commlink and inform me of what happened."

"And you didn't inform Corneria?" demanded Fox. "We could have been there in three hours!"

"And therein lies the problem," murmured Andross in a soft voice. "You have noticed, I'm sure, that Corneria's eyes look to Grall, not Lylat. If they learned that I was still alive, they might feel threatened, and in turn, inclined to attack Venom. Where would I be, then? Venom, Corneria, and every planet in-between might be in the center of not one, but two wars. And once Corneria and Venom were finished destroying each other, it would be a simple matter for your Grallians and the Aparoids to overrun Lylat."

"Corneria's not doing her job if Aparoids managed to attack a Lylatian planet without her noticing," muttered Peppy. Fox heard this, and his eyes flashed with an indignant glint. Andross sensed the brewing trouble and raised two paws.

"Relax. Now, I would appreciate it if you did not inform Corneria that my little nation has reformed. I'll try and keep the Aparoids off your backs for a little longer, though for how much more, I daresay I do not know."

"An estimate?" pressed Fox. "Something that'll make withholding information worth my time."

"I would bet maybe another month at best," replied the ape heavily. "My fleet has sustained serious losses in the three engagements with the Aparoids in the shadow of Venom. So far, we have lost about thirty percent of the fleet. The attacks are increasing in ferocity and frequency. So," continued Andross, "if you wouldn't mind, I would like to hire Star Fox myself to get to the root of all this. Your Grallian War does not seem to be anywhere near a climax, nor does Corneria look close to capitulating. Surely you can take some time to investigate this mayhem."

Fox looked at Peppy for barely an instant, then both nodded firmly. "We accept."

* * *

"You're joking, Foxie," said Falco upon their return. "We spent two months hammering the living daylight out of Andross's hide and now you're letting him hire us?" 

"And here I was, thinking you were in it for the money," said Fox, crossing his arms. "Looks like you have a moral compass after all, Lombardi."

"That was a low blow."

"You asked for it." The two glowered at one another for another few seconds until Peppy buzzed the lift.

* * *

The ride up to the bridge was a silent one. Once they had reached the room, Peppy had divulged the nature of Star Fox's next mission- to protests from Century and Abbey. 

"Seriously?" asked the latter, incredulously. "You did read my profile, right? I spent my life training for Corneria. Not Venom, or Andross, or any other crazy land of crazy monkeys."

"I agree," cut in Century. "You might have asked."

"If Andross is not there to hold the Aparoids at bay," shot back Fox in growing frustration, "we'll be doing this job anyway. Except we'll have no help and it will be a heck of a lot harder. Star Fox does more for a living then sitting around as Pepper's lapdogs, and Andross is right- we're not doing anything right now to help Corneria. So unless you suggest we sit around for the next month doing nothing, waiting for another invasion, fine! Or, we can end this now, and save a lot of trouble." Silence. "Slippy?"

"Well, I guess..." said the toad in a hesitant voice. "I mean, it's the whole clip-in-the-bud sort of deal, right? If we wait, they can just infect more of Andross's crew, and we'll have a fleet to deal with, rather then some bugs."

"Bravo!" replied Fox, looking pleased with himself. He didn't even have to ask Krystal to know her answer- the vixen was now looking genuinely pleased with Fox's change of heart regarding Andross.

Perhaps, she thought, that wound had not died too hard.

Falco gave in after Slippy's turnabout, albeit, grudgingly. This left only a grumpy Century Shorehm and a reluctant Abbey. A few minutes later, she caved and changed her mind after some intense pressuring from Peppy, whose solid logic could not be denied. Century had thereupon thrown up his paws in exasperation and decided to go with the flow, though his change of heart was less than heartfelt.

"Well, I guess that makes all of us," said Fox, looking around the room. "We've got perhaps three hours, maybe four, before an aparoid invasion fleet is gonna come smashing into Venom. Let's get the Great Fox combat ready before then, how about? Come on, let's get cracking!"

The bridge came alive then with the tapping of buttons and the soft, muted beeps and whirrs of computers. Diagnostics rolled across the screens lining the walls as the situation holographic projector came online. Venom floated alone in space, and the multitude of red dots surrounding it turned green to match the key for allied ships. Fox looked at this for another few seconds, before he called Slippy and headed down to the Arwings.

* * *

"Slippy," he said as they reached the hangar door, "during the fight, try not to get shot. I need you scanning these things as much as possible. I want to know why they're still here. Can you do it?" 

"Sure, Fox," said Slippy with a happy grin. "Piece of cake."

* * *

The seconds went by like the sparks flying from Fox's torch as he and Slippy carefully tempered the armor of their Arwings. Seconds dragged into minutes, minutes into hours. The two were scarcely done when Falco came on the intercom. 

"Foxie, something you gotta see. Get up here, quick!"

"I'm not taken to arguing with Falco," murmured Fox. "Coming!" he shouted up at the ceiling. He beckoned to Slippy, then left the hangar, still strewn with tools and other devices.

* * *

"They're coming into sight," said Falco the second Fox put paw onto the bridge. "But these ain't the same kind of aparoids we fought. Take a look." 

Fox watched the viewpane carefully as tiny lights flashed within it. The viewpane became a computer screen, zooming in upon a particular point in space with alarming speed.

"A Wolfen? Nah," said Fox in a dismissive voice. "They wouldn't have had a chance to get one."

"Oh yes they did," said Century, stepping up to peer at the still-grainy image. "Krystal, didn't you say something about Star Wolf ejecting in the asteroid belt?" Silence reigned as Krystal made a tiny nod.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Falco, slapping a wing down on his terminal, the other going to his headfeathers. "We get to fight a swarm of aparoid Wolfens? Now this is gonna be a treat."

"Your sarcasm can wait, Falco," replied Fox, his voice distant. "Abbey, you've got the ship. Peppy, Century, help her. Everyone else, with me. You all know what to do." There was a chorus of agreement, and the bridge rapidly emptied as the rest of the team raced for the underslung hangar. The hangar where the trouble always began.

* * *

"Releasing the lift locks," called Abbey over the roar of igniting engines and the soft spray of backlashing ion streams. The intercom buzzed out with a crackle as motors hummed and the deck surrounding each Arwing began to lift away. Each pilot grasped their flight controls and the dashboard as mechanical arms gripping their Arwings flexed and dropped. 

"Just like the roller coasters at home," quipped Fox. Falco gave a bark of laughter that was rammed back into his beak as the four Arwings were suddenly jolted forwards and violently flung from the ship, the sudden acceleration driving the breath from all of their lungs as their Arwings snapped into space.

Fox, as usual, was first to recover, pulling a sharp barrel roll to open his wings. They responded with a grating, mechanical whir as the two slabs of tempered duraluminum spread outwards and locked with a sharp click. Over the comm, Fox could hear the same happening to all his teammates.

Since their last battle, the formation had changed. Krystal was no longer in the back- it was Slippy who now held that position, safe behind a dynamic shield of polished metal and energy. From here, he could take his scans without fear of being downed.

After all, Krystal and Falco were still out of his league. Even if the Grallians weren't.

* * *

"Everything steady up there, Abbey?" asked Krystal, watching a sensor array extending from Slippy's bomb hatch, like a worm emerging from the earth. 

"All's good, Krystal," replied the otter. "Nothing looks out of the ordinary- all systems are good except for that little crisis of yours."

"What?" asked the vixen, before she remembered. "Oh, the broken bathroom light."

"Exactly. Somehow, I don't think that's gonna be a problem for us."

"Go figure."

* * *

Peppy stood, paws behind his back as he watched the situation map through his spectacles. He squinted as the line of green dots began to shift forwards, and a flurry of much smaller blips indicating Venomian fighters blew across the holographic image like a miniature blizzard. At the same time, a great mass of blipping red dots, so close they almost merged as one image, shoved its way into the picture on the left side. 

"Get ready," he advised Abbey, who immediately looked up from her console and put her paws upon the controls. Century flashed her the okay sign from his damage control station.

Abbey steeled herself and squared her shoulders. Then she reached for the throttle and threw it wide open, the Great Fox lunging at the cloud of aparoids just visible at the edge of her vision.

* * *

The ambient starlight was drowned out by the blinding show of pyrotechnics from the Great Fox, fast lighting up like a fireworks display on Union Day. Streaks of burning red plasma erupted from the ship's great forward cannons at implacable intervals. Two focal lasers on the neck of the Great Fox spat out great beams of energy that ate through the aparoid Wolfens. From four launchers mounted in the wings, silvery torpedoes exhaling a yellow flame shot out and into the oncoming masses, detonating with ferocious explosions that tore crystalline fighters to shreds. All the while, intermittent, purplish lances of plasma fired out randomly from over the hull, spiking out every which way to ward off anyone who dared come too near. Streaming cannons all along the wings and hull delivered their deadly payloads in the forms of blue and white lances of plasma to destroy yet more of the enemy. 

Yellowish-orange bursts of laser fire from Andross's fleet joined the barrage, raining down on the heedlessly-onrushing aparoids. Had this battle been set in days long gone, these ships would have been the archers, sending death through the skies to take unwitting foes.

And at the head of the battle column where the knights, the four Arwings, and the vastly superior cloud of Wolfens. Star Fox's resistance looked almost pitiful as the distance continued to close, still too far for fighter laser fire, but close enough for individual ships to begin taking on distinctive attributes. This Wolfen had a blue wing, this, a red one. No matter the color, they were still copies of the Wolfen, one of the most respected fighters in Lylatian history.

And the number of pilots Star Fox could put into the field was pitifully few. A few against the many, they never wavered from their charge, silent, grim-faced knights of Lylat-

-until the first laser volleys streaked across the heavens, scorching the void of space with their intense heat and iridescent trails of light. Providing a great sense of anticlimax to the battle, Fox McCloud was immediately hit. The Krystal Fire rumbled softly as the shields weakened. The vulpine was about to return fire when, with a yelp, he noticed the hexagonogal, crystalline structure forming at the nose of his Arwing, inches away from his ship. It began to expand, more cells popping into being. Fox switched his shields to create a protective, ovular sphere around his Arwing rather then being hull-tight. A draining whine filled his cockpit as the shield generator began to devour vital energy, energy he would need in this fight.

He smashed the button for his comm, again and again, but the blue crystal now completely encasing his ship was muting his teammates's frantic calls to him. All at once, his engines shut down and his weapons went offline. The shields strained as the aparoid crystal began to press in upon his ship as it rocked to fire from the others, none of their lasers able to loose him from his crystalline prison.

An alarm on his computer told Fox what he needed to know. The crystals surrounding him were pressing inwards and would soon have him if he didn't do something. Fox tried his lasers and his Nova bombs. Neither would respond. An intense magnetic field, his scanners told him, was disabling the system. His radar also showed the aparoids had locked onto him with a tractor beam.

An idea suddenly sparked within his brain, and almost knowing it was a bad idea, Fox reached for the G-Diffuser controls, flipping a switch marked very plainly.

Invert Field

All of a sudden, he felt a surge of vertigo as the protective gravity shield reversed direction, pressing now against the crystal cocoon. Fox slowly began to cycle through gravimetric frequencies, some that would kill him instantly should the field invert once more. Finally, with a faint tinkling sound, the inverted gravity field reached the crystal's resonation frequency.

Almost instantly, it began to crack, before exploding outwards in a massive spray of blue shards and crackling electricity. Fox's unscathed, but drained Arwing emerged from the wreckage, shields flashing as they drew back inwards. The G-Diffusers flared as they collected he green particles now strewn in a bubble about the Krystal Fire as the gravity field inverted once more, turning inwards.

"Fox!" called Falco, worry coloring his voice. He was joined by Slippy seconds later- Fox could see the toad had also been hit, but had discovered how to free himself before he had.

"Fox! Are you okay?" asked Krystal, an almost frantic edge to her voice. Fox nodded, then, with a start, realized no one could really see him.

"Yeah...I'm fine. If you're hit, invert your G-Diffuser, immediately! Clear?"

"As crystal," replied Falco, spinning away from a shot. "A WPR works just as well to keep 'em away, though."

"Watch out though, all the same," said Slippy, swooping into view as he pummeled an aparoid Wolfen. "I'd look back at Andross's ships, if I were you."

Krystal turned with a gasp. Great screens of aparoid crystal were forming around many of Andross's ships, and some of his less-then-lucky fighters had fully succumbed and were drifting helplessly through space. Even as the vixen watched, the crystal shifted around one, and rushed inwards, taking the pilot and his spacecraft to fuse them together as One.

Fear rose within her. Everyone was now at risk. This was worse then the last war. She could scarcely believe Slippy was keeping his head while she was not, for the toad had just asked a question along the lines of, "Wherever do they this energy? These attacks are at least three times as powerful as a Mark III Arwing's charged shot!"

Pulling a tight somersault to snap her focus back to the battle before her, Krystal depressed her triggers and unleashed a hailstorm of pearl lasers onto an aparoid Wolfen. Hexagon crystal cells shot up and absorbed the blast, but the vixen persisted, and the crystal broke apart. The Wolfen followed mere seconds later, torn to shreds by the well-aimed shots.

* * *

Andross paced his study, watching various live feeds of the battle. Star Fox and their mothership had not been fatally hit yet, but some of his cruisers were clearly going to go. Even as he watched, their captains initiated self-destruct sequences and the ships blew apart from inside, fiery explosions sending trails of molten hull plating and debris shooting into space. Slamming both paws onto his situation table, Andross activated the fleet comm and barked, "All ships, execute order Zoness Three!"

* * *

"Fox, Fox!" called Slippy, diving and jinking in an erratic manner as he was fired at the not one, not two, not even three, but five aparoid Wolfens tightly on his tail. Fox pulled an Immelman turn and came around, lasers spitting white fire to blast away shields and ships. Slippy pulled out of his dive, stammering his thanks. 

"Don't mention it, Slippy," said Fox, his voice tired. "Climb above the battle and conduct your scans. "Falco, you watch him."

"So I'm babysitting frog-face," muttered the avian rebelliously.

"Cut it out, Falco!" said Abbey, intervening on the toad's behalf. "We've got enough to do right now, so keep your beak shut and your eyes forward!"

"Whoo-hoo, strict, isn't she?" chuckled Century. Very wisely, Falco bit back a retort and contented himself with shredding another pair of fighters that dared wander too close to his charge.

* * *

Satisfied that Falco had no more remarks in store, Abbey turned back to her view screen, abruptly flipping the ship over with a flare of maneuvering thrusters. In the confused melee the battle had fast become, she was using the Great Fox itself as a weapon, retro-rockets and thrusters firing to incinerate foes, plasma sparklers destroying fighters everywhere as she plowed on, uncaring as to the aparoids in her way. 

A flashing light on the system diagnostic told Century that a number of aparoids were attacking the hangar force fields with high-yield lasers. "Not infectious, at least," he muttered. "Be back in a flash."

So saying, the hound leapt down the waiting lift and jammed the lowest level on the ship, tapping his paw impatiently as the pod began to descend through the bowels of the ship.

Peppy had only seen it for the faintest of seconds, but what he saw made his heart run cold. He nearly sprinted to the rail of the command platform, leaning over to shout at Abbey, "Bring us back around! Quick!"

Puzzled, the otter complied, pulling the Great Fox into another smooth turn to bring the ship to face Andross's fleet. Her maw dropped open. "I don't believe it!" she screamed shrilly.

Peppy's only answer was to sprint back to his situation table and start jamming his personal communicator. Aparoid Wolfens- he could take that. Aparoid shielding defending Venomian ships? He could not take that.

* * *

"He's what?" demanded Fox, disengaging from his target and coming about to face the Venomian lines. Huge, cellular crystals were blossoming about fifty meters from the sides of Andross's ships, slamming into existence to block the next hail of lasers before fading away as if they had never been. "Son of a-" he began, cutting short his remark when both a telepathic probe from Krystal and an enemy laser hit him, almost as if in disapproval.

* * *

"You thank your lucky stars that the Cornerians destroyed all infected ships," said Peppy, looking at the cloud of fighters swarming around them. "Otherwise, we'd have worse to deal with than Wolfens." 

Which was bad enough in Century Shorehm's book. The night-black hound was strapping himself into one of the new proximity-defense pods, a cylindrical vessel with a spherical front. It was a small thing, far smaller then an Arwing, or even his own Jet-Lag. But it was the fastest to scramble, and his Jet-Lag wouldn't be much use flying right next to the Great Fox.

He depressed a button, and the pod went rocketing out from the hangar, immediately firing a white ray into the Great Fox. A tractor beam, to keep the pod from spinning away too far. Gunning the engines, Century dropped in behind an aparoid Wolfen and opened fire, spitting fat, golden bolts of energy out from his gun muzzles. Powered by the Great Fox itself, these were far more powerful then even the pearl lasers of Slippy's own Titanian Silver.

The dog frowned with worry when he noticed one aparoid get dangerously close to the thin, white energy beam linking him to the Great Fox. Once severed, he would lose power until the link had been reestablished. Ramming his pod forward, the hound just pulled the tether away from the offending Wolfen, and spinning, he proceeded to blast it to pieces. Moving along the hull, Century continued to fire lasers into the swarm of enemies assuaging the hangar.

"Century! We need you back on the bridge!" called Peppy. Century looked up through the glass canopy in irritation before he jammed the response button.

"Peppy, I'll be up in a minute," he said. He angled his craft back towards the hangar, spitting lasers all the way.

Century fought back the urge to barrel roll as a shot crashed into his shielding. Doing such a maneuver would break his connection to the ship, which would undoubtedly mean the end for him.

He lined himself up with the hangar and powered the engines up to full power. He was clearing the thirty-foot mark when a Wolfen crossed between him and the ship, severing the energy link.

Almost immediately, his pod began to lose power, screens flickering and flashing as the energy drained away from them. Just seconds later, the link reestablished itself.

Until a laser bolt slammed into the reception module. The beam faded and died within milliseconds. The engine followed soon after. Century was rocked by an explosion as his hull took a direct hit. Aparoid crystal swarmed over the ship's sterns as the dying computers flashed desperate warnings.

And then he was in the hangar, passing through the force field. With power having drained before he could align with the docking node, his ship lost complete control the instant it passed into the ship's artificial gravity field. The defense pod came crashing to the deck, slamming into the unforgiving steel with the force of a missile impact, sending broken crystal spinning through the room, embedding itself into walls and floors.

Century leapt from his ruined craft, wringing one paw where it touched burning-hot metal. He nearly sprinted to one wall where a rack of weapons hung. The hound seized a machine gun and sent a spray of energy rounds into the thirteen or so patches of growing crystal on the wall where the fragmented aparoid crystal had pierced the hull. Seconds after he began pulling the trigger, Century realized his mistake- fragmenting the growing crystals could just set loose an epidemic. But he'd already committed, and so he held his paw down upon the trigger, seeing nothing now but billowing smoke and flashing energy rounds.

When the atmospheric processors got through the smoke he had just generated with his little stunt, Century had expected to see patches of glowing blue cells. He wasn't disappointed, but he was also surprised. The number of infection patches had diminished- all that was left of most of them now were smoking, burnt holes in the deck and walls. The crystals he'd broken with his gun no longer retained their blue glow of life- they were a dark, opaque blue now, devoid of all and any of the strange life they had possessed. Several more bursts, and the job was done.

"Peppy? I'm coming up now."

"Good to hear," said the hare, and Century whirled to find the elderly fur standing at the lift, whirling a pistol casually around one finger. Flicking off the power cell with his other paw, Peppy stuck the gun into a concealed holster and spread his arms wide.

"You learn stuff as a mercenary- always go with your gun. You weren't the only one shooting. Come on, it's only Abbey up there now, and she's not up to driving this thing by herself."

"It was designed," said Century through indignantly gritted teeth, "for a crew of one-hundred and twenty."

Peppy shrugged. "Fair enough."

* * *

As Falco continued to fly loops around Slippy, Krystal and Fox jockeyed for position as they continued to bring down aparoid Wolfens in violent balls of flaming wreckage. It was just a little, but Fox could see that the battlefield had thinned. His maw split into a grin, broken only when Slippy hailed him. 

"Fox, I think I'm onto something, but I'm going to have to run a class ten scan to verify it. I'm going to need all of your cover."

"What, Falco isn't doing his job?" complained Fox, bringing down another Wolfen.

"I heard that!"

"He's just teasing, Falco," said Krystal with a wide grin. "Go on, Slippy."

"Thanks. Anyways," continued the toad, "a class ten scan will require all the power my Arwing has to offer, and it'll take about five minutes. He looked absolutely calm as he finished. "That includes power from shields, engines, and life support."

Instantly, the team's shared comm channel exploded with angry outbursts. The toad held up webbed paws as the obvious question was thrown to him- "Let the Great Fox do it!"

"In case you haven't noticed," he asserted, "the Great Fox is a little bit busy right now."

"...he's right," admitted Abbey, a red flush creeping into her cheeks. "We've been taking heavy damage, and the shields are starting to fail."

* * *

The Great Fox now trailed flame from plasma leaks on her starboard engine, leaks that threw sparkling, multi-hued globs of plasma out into space. This fiery discharge was prominently red, leaving the ship even easier to spot. Abbey began to pull the ship back towards Andross's lines for cover as system failures began to rise onto her screens. 

"Century?" she called, voice rising.

"I see it," replied the hound. "I'll get you back thruster power in a second, but you're going to lose an engine."

"Fair enough, just get on it!" Abbey turned back to her console and started throwing in commands as if she were at a high-stakes baseball game. "Sorry, Fox!" she said, fingers dancing over keys. "We can't do it at the moment- we need every drop of power we can spare!"

* * *

"Alright, I've got it," said Fox, voice pained. "Alright, then. Everybody, form up around Slippy." Glaring out his cockpit at the truculent toad, he narrowed his eyes. "Make damn sure you do this quickly." 

"You're the boss," said Slippy, pointing a finger at his comm window. Seconds later, his engines went out, as did his G-Diffuser. His shields drained away after that, leaving the ship mostly adrift in space. Abruptly, a blanket screen of green light spread from the Arwing's nose and fanned out, extending towards the original assault point where the aparoids had emerged from.

* * *

Fox had hoped against hope that the aparoids would concentrate on him and his fighters. Instead, they homed in like angry bees onto Slippy's disabled ship, lasers firing. Brilliant starbursts of white light exploded in the void as Star Fox intercepted, barrel rolls batting the questing projectiles away. Laser fire scorched its way without mercy into the hulls of many fighters. Star Fox's defensive line tightened around the toad, who was smashing holographic and real keys with his fingers at an eye-watering speed. The line wavered, then began to break, buckling inwards as the aparoid Wolfens rushed onwards. The three Arwings initially resisted and braved the rush, turning into the wave of fighters and firing all the while. They were then forced to break apart, Falco's GaleStorm taking heavy damage in the process. Formation shattered, Slippy's defensive screen was gone. His teammates fought in an increasingly desperate and erratic manner to get back to their comrade, but it was no use. The laser fire was too thick.

* * *

Slippy wondered for a moment if his teammates would save him, just like they had done so long ago on Titania. But he took one glance outside, and he knew the answer. There would be no miracle saving this time. He could stand here as a coward, and let his ship fall into enemy hands. Or he could take matters into his own hands. It was too late to disengage the scan and raise his shields. 

With only one alternative left to him, Slippy reached out past his control stick. He hesitated for a moment, glancing at his HUD and radar for even the barest hint of help coming to his side. There was none.

Slippy looked at the control switch he was reaching for, and hesitated. Was it really worth it? Did he have to go out as a hero? The toad then made his mind, steeling himself for what he was about to do.

No one would dare call Slippy Toad a coward after this, after his sacrifice for Lylat. The pledge of Star Fox, to protect Lylat always in her hours of need, would be honored and remembered this day.

He swallowed, and flipped the clear cover on his dashboard, flicking the silvery switch into its upward position. A computer voice instantly chimed at him.

"Warning. Self-destruct sequence activated. Please enter authorization code to complete sequence."

"Slippy-Fox-Falco-Krystal-ROB-Alpha-Three-Lylat-One," rushed Slippy, chest heaving as he breathlessly took a gulp of air, likely the last he'd ever take.

"Authorization accepted," said the computer in a cool tone of voice. "Self destruct initialization in five, four, three..."

Slippy closed his eyes and waited for the end.

"...one..."

His webbed paw closed on his flight stick, a comforting reminder of the life he left behind him now.

"...zero. Self destruct initializing," said the computer apathetically, circuitry whirring as a command, just a few lines of code, raced through its command centers. A fatal string of zeroes and ones, meaningless to everything and anyone...

...but the uncaring computer it was destined for.


	31. Trace

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Written again without waiting for reviews, because as I said, I'm rather interested in the prospects of breaking the length record. Heh. Haha.

Um...yeah...

* * *

**Chapter 28 Trace**

* * *

Krystal had been the first to know, the first to guess at Slippy's motives. She had screamed, had ignited her boosters. Aparoid crystal had latched onto her shields, fired from infectious lasers, and had been simply blasted away by the speed of her Arwing.

* * *

Fox had known next. The sudden influx of data automatically transmitting from Slippy's sensors made it quite clear that he was activating his self-destruct protocols. 

"Slippy, no-" he cried until a blaring tone informed him that Slippy was blocking his comm. The vulpine angrily slammed paws into his console, trying to override the sequence. Another loud, piercing tone told him his efforts were being blocked. "ROB!" he yelled into his comm. "Disable Slippy's ship, now!"

"Unable to comply," whirred the robot, "Slippy is overriding all command protocols."

"The system was designed to prevent enemy takeover," said Peppy, his voice soft, almost inaudible amidst the general chaos and noise in each cockpit. "Nothing more we can do."

"Don't give us that, old timer!" shouted Falco, banking hard to try for another run. "There's a way around it, you know there is!"

"I-" began Peppy when he was hurled back into his seat. "Abbey, what are you-" he yelled as the Great Fox came into a screaming turn, engines roaring and hull groaning with the stress.

* * *

Slippy watched the diagnostics on his engine fluctuate rapidly as power coursed into the powerplant. Detonating explosive charges would not be enough to destroy a Mark IV Arwing- a chain ion reaction would. Eyes dull, the streams of numbers and letters passed through his unfocused vision, double images swirling around. Only a few more seconds, now... 

A strange line of code caught his attention, snapping him out of his daze. The system suddenly began to logjam, error reports piling up on top of one another. With a sickening thud, Slippy knew what had happened. It had been that tiny jolt he'd felt, that flicker of unease.

The impact of an infectious laser had stopped his attempt at destruction cold.

* * *

"Fox, look!" screamed Krystal, fingers flying over a holographic display as she highlighted a portion of the Titanian Silver. 

Falco's canopy activated with a whir before it zoomed in upon the desired image, blinding him to what was happening outside. His ship shook as it was struck by a laser. Falco cursed.

Along the engine nozzle of the Titanian Silver was a rapidly growing patch of green.

Fox was strangely calm, his voice flat as he gave his orders. "All ships, reinforce shields. Target Slippy's Arwing. I'm not going to let those disgusting things get ahold of my friend!"

"Fox-!" pleaded Krystal, but Fox cut her off with a crushing reply.

"There's no time! Slippy's gone, Krystal, he's gone! The least we can do is let him die with honor! It's my duty as a friend, and come hell or high water, I'll fulfill it!"

The Krystal Fire bucked at its master's touch and shot towards the doomed Arwing, followed closely by the GaleStorm and the Cerulean Blue.

* * *

Slippy's paws ran with frantic haste over his computer, each time missing one other backup destruct by mere seconds. He would pull up the necessary routine, only to have it flash red before his very eyes. His computers began flickering, fading as the infection progressed onwards. Slippy inverted his G-Diffuser system, but the command stopped somewhere four or so feet behind him, halted in place by a pulsating vein of aparoid crystal.

* * *

Fox screamed his hatred at the foes surrounding him as he attempted to punch through a knot of Wolfens, Nova bombs flaring as his lasers spewed a waterfall of rippling energy. Nothing worked- the enemy was too close. Forced to pull up again, tears flooded his eyes when he saw that the infection had progressed a bit further.

"I can't," he sobbed over the comm, over and over. "I can't, I can't..." What would it feel like, to have one's identity ripped away from himself, tossed to the void and consumed by the One? What would Slippy's last thoughts be as aparoid crystal erupted all around him, piercing his body, corrupting his beloved fighter. The vulpine suppressed another unbidden sob as he came around, only to be deflected again.

"Damnit!" he screamed, pounding his controls.

* * *

Krystal was having no better luck, her Arwing taking a little more damage each time she tried to break through. An infectious laser splashed over her shields, and Fox turned at her piercing scream. 

Not Krystal, too, he pleaded, torn between saving two of his teammates. His heart clenched, a sickeningly tight sensation that drove the breath from his lungs, the thoughts from his mind. Time hung still as the question slammed through his barely-comprehending consciousness.

* * *

There was only one alternative left for Slippy. Pulling back his control stick, he slammed the button for his Nova bombs, intending to detonate one directly in front of him. 

The bomb left the launcher with an echoing clunk, but it did not detonate when he flipped the switch. Icy fear washed over him then, as he blankly watched the destructive shell spin off into the void, and then explode into a many-pointed star of azure energy, spikes reaching out into space and destroying several aparoid Wolfens in bursts of shattered crystal.

* * *

"Fox," yelled Krystal. "Help Slippy, then help me!" When no response came, she screamed the same words again. 

Fox was sitting alone, dreadfully alone, numb and uncomprehending of the destruction around him.

* * *

Slippy looked up, face curving into a small smile as he saw his savior swooping down from above, just like the falcon that he was. 

For Falco Lombardi had indeed pierced the screen of aparoids defending their prize. As one with the skies, the avian had completely outmaneuvered the dozens of foes that had tried to tail him, running some into each other, dodging still more, and incinerating the rest in a cool flurry of silvery-white lasers.

"...you know what, you're not so bad, after all," said Falco, even though he knew Slippy could not hear him. The target icon upon his screen flashed as he acquired a lock. The charged, viridian sphere of destructive energy spun towards Slippy, almost like a falling angel to save one in need.

The sphere arced towards Slippy's disabled ship, only to explode harmlessly upon a huge, polished plane of glistening metal. Falco gaped.

"Where'd you come from?!" he shrieked with disbelief. The Great Fox flashed before him, turning with precision it had never been pushed to before. At Abbey's behest, this beast of war unleashed a fiery red focal laser from the gaping maw of a gun, the searing weapon lashing out through space to collide with Slippy's damaged engine.

There was no cataclysmic explosion that would have signaled the end for the amphibian. There was only a flash of sparks and flame as the laser cut through, severing the majority of the infection from the wounded vessel.

Abbey barreled towards the toad then, and the Great Fox swallowed up the disabled ship with the tremendous maw of its hangar.

The Arwing skidded to the back of the room in a blaze of flame, sparks erupting from where it came into contact with the deck and spraying into the air in a cascade of golden electricity. Flames licked along the once-sleek hulk as it continued its mad rampage through the hangar, stopping only when it crashed into the far wall. The starboard wing sliced into the partition as if it was paper, and the flaming wreck fell back onto its side, faint traces of aparoid crystal crawling over the ruins of its engines.

Slippy threw open his cockpit, to hear Century's panicked cry of, "Slippy, get down, you idiot!"

The toad threw himself to the deck as a spray of sapphire-blue gattling rounds sprayed onto the remains of his ship. There was an explosion and a tinkling of breaking crystal, then all was quiet but for the crackling of flames and the billowing of smoke.

Slippy gave a soft whimper looking at the remains of his Titanian Silver as Century seized a fire-suppression hose and doused the flames liberally with the gaseous, carbon-based fire-suppressant common to battle ships of the day.

"Fox's gonna kill me," he said once the wreck emerged from the smoky haze. Century cast him a sympathetic glance.

"I'm sure he'll understand," he said. "Let's get up to the bridge, let everyone know we're all still alive."

* * *

"Thanks for the shooting, Falco," was what a very bemused Abbey was saying into the comm as the pair arrived on deck. "That's gonna leave a scratch." 

"Yeah, well, you were jaywalking," objected Falco, flapping one wing at the screen.

"It's a war zone, not a street!" protested Century at once, crossing over to his comm. "Hey all, we got Slippy." There was an explosion of cheering, some crying of relief that came back over the comm.

"Good job, guys," said Fox. "Good to have you back, Slip."

"Thanks, Fox," replied the toad. "I thought I was a goner...as it is, I lost the Arwing. It's toast."

"Ah, we'll fix it later," said Fox, almost dismissively. "Right now, do what you can with the Great Fox. It looks like we might finally be getting the edge in this battle. Great Fox for covering fire, please!"

"On its way," replied Abbey, paws already dancing over the screen to release a hail of destruction on the rapidly thinning cloud of aparoid Wolfens outside.

* * *

As the Arwings nipped about and the Great Fox lunged into swarms of the enemy, the silently battling warships and fighters of Andross's fleet were making offensives now of their own. The vulnerable fighters had been recalled, and the capital ships, protected now by aparoid shielding, made offensive forays into the invasion fleet now, lances of plasma and laser energy exploding through space to erupt in fiery conflagrations of crystal shards and electricity that crackled out into space like fragments of dying suns, blazing out in their final moments of shining brilliance before winking out like candles in a storm, fading to black and swallowed by the void.

* * *

Abbey ducked her head as an explosion of sparks rained down from the ceiling above her, sending a cascade of white-hot particles onto the rail of the command platform. The Great Fox leaned heavily into a screaming turn and dive as the ship dodged away from a cloud of aparoids. 

For the fifth time or so, an infection warning showed up on Slippy's computer, and he reversed the ship's G-Diffusers. A giddy feeling of weightlessness assuaged the bridge crew for a moment before the field turned inwards once more and restored the ship's equilibrium.

Outside, the Great Fox was roaring like a furnace, flames leaking from burst plasma tanks on one wing and from small breaches all over the ship. The starboard engine was coughing erratically, and small patches of shattered green crystals adorned the ship. The shields emitted flashes of white light as they were pounded, while in some sections, bare hull plating took the hits with rippling shockwaves of energy spreading across their surfaces. Even wounded, however, the ship was more than a match for the aparoids- Wolfens who got too close were incinerated by the randomly-firing plasma sparklers, while others were destroyed by the ship's more conventional weaponry. Automatically controlled point-defense turrets tracked the enemy, spitting out a hail of green lasers. Small, anti-fighter missiles were roaring out of compartments everywhere on the ship, although the main guns remained mostly silent.

If the Great Fox was not able to utilize her full offensive might, the Arwings certainly were. One after another, the Krystal Fire, GaleStorm, and Cerulean Blue lit up in spectacular explosions of dazzling, multi-hued lights as they sprayed a deadly spread of fireworks through the cosmos.

Aparoids had targeted Fox, first and foremost, and with infectious lasers pelting his shields, the vulpine found himself reversing his G-Diffusers almost constantly. As he continued to flit through the encircling enemies and dodged the questing hail of lasers, gravity sickness began to get to the vulpine. His vision was tunneling, his motions dragging...

"Fox!" The force of the telepathic shout sent Fox reeling, his Arwing abruptly spinning as he briefly lost control. His head began to clear as the tunnel vision faded away, the darkness receding to the very edges of his vision. He shook himself slightly, blinking several times to clear suddenly watering eyes.

"Fox!" repeated Krystal, this time over the comm. "Get back to the ship! Send Abbey ouy- you need rest!"

Fox only could comprehend half of this in his befuddled state, but when another high-yield laser rocked his Arwing, he realized he was falling behind Falco and Krystal. Regret coursed through him as he realized Krystal was right- Falco had just knocked away a tailing ship for the third time in two minutes. He was becoming a hindrance, fast.

* * *

The Krystal Fire landed in the acrid-smelling hangar only thirty seconds after Krystal's order. He had had to reverse his G-Diffuser again in that time, and he had nearly fainted in the cockpit. Barely awake, he allowed the automatic docking systems to bring his Arwing in. 

After a few minutes, panting heavily within the confines of the cockpit, Fox was able to clamber out of the enclosure and make his way to the lift. Arriving on the bridge after a short ride, he descended into the systems pit and tapped Abbey on the shoulder.

"Get out there and fly," he ordered, smiling slightly. The otter beamed at him before bouncing away, the lift closing almost seconds later.

Fox settled in behind Abbey's console, paws running over the controls as he brought the Great Fox under his command. Responding eagerly to its master's touch, the ship recovered some of its lost grace as it leapt purposefully into a new knot of enemies, decimating them even as a lone Arwing departed from the ship's hangar, jetting out into space.


	32. Breaking Point

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Thank you all for your kind reviews. I am glad that this plot turn is being well-accepted- I guarantee you, more will be on the way. Artistic Tuba, the reason I have not been able to deploy Century thusfar was the lack of crew for the Great Fox- ROB can no longer coordinate the ship's weapon systems, nor can Abbey. In addition, I consider the Jet-Lag to be, in all respect, sub-Arwing IV in performance, and as the ship carries no equipment capable of inverting a gravity field...anyway, it's a fine ship, be certain of that! Now, let us return to the battle! 

As a final note though, expect a new story from me very soon. I know, maybe overboard much? But this one will be interesting...

* * *

**Chapter 29 Breaking Point

* * *

**Sparks were exploding all over the Great Fox's bridge, the electricity flooding out from damaged and overloading conduits in floods of pure energy. Crashing detonations far below told of horrifying damage to the ship's hull, and as another engine began to fail, Slippy leapt from his station and raced into the lift, grabbing a toolkit nearby for good measure. 

Fox's able paws ran all over the terminal before him, depressing buttons and flipping switches with almost demonic speed. The ship was an unrelenting whirlwind of power and flame as the vulpine shuttled power all over the ship, often putting power into specific shield grids to counter individual attacks. Even as ROB whirred and stepped into Slippy's station, however, a sudden, crackling explosion of spark and flame erupted from the helm console, throwing Fox backwards into the base of the command platform. The fox staggered up, blood leaking from lacerations that covered his exposed arms and parts of his face and neck. The crimson liquid hit the unforgiving steel deck, splattering like liquid rubies, congealing as they came into contact with the frigid surface. The mercenary captain had to take but one look at the twisted wreck before him when he realized that helm control was gone.

"Fox to all ships," crackled the vulpine's voice over the comm, "return to Great Fox and prepare to deploy ERGs. We've lost helm control. Fox out."

* * *

Abbey looked back at the Great Fox, rolling hard to her left as she did. Pouring flame out into space and with great patches of seared and scorched hull plating, flashing faintly with showers of sparks, the Great Fox was slewing sideways, running lights flashing in a dim manner as the sorely wounded ship fought back, guns blazing in defiance as what was left of the shield grid mustered itself to go to the ship's aid. Already, Abbey could see Krystal reversing course, streaking back towards the ship, even flashing from sight briefly as the vixen surpassed the speed of light for an instant. Boosters winking out, the Cerulean Blue dropped back into view, the fading azure glow around its booster rockets dying within seconds. 

The lapse of concentration almost proved fatal- the Diamond Star rocked to a salvo of infectious lasers, crystal springing to life all around her, pressing in upon her shields. The otter yelped and began to run through the procedure of inverting her G-Diffusers when Falco swooped out of nowhere, lasers exploding into stars of white light. The pearl lasers shore through the growing crystal as if were scraps of tin or stained glass. Abbey cast a thankful glance at the avian, but Falco was already banking away, swooping down to the Great Fox.

After quickly gunning down several aparoids in her path, the otter rejoined her comrades swooping in low orbits around the Great Fox. Taking great care to dodge the wings and just dusting the weakening shields, Abbey made the first pass, very carefully aligning the rear targeting reticule in her HUD, not daring to slow down for fear of being hit. The reticule flashed, and Abbey hastily whipped off her shot. A double-barreled grappler mounted atop her engine vent swung into position, and even as it was turning, it released two grapnel heads, the lines trailing behind them. Both grapnels crashed into the hull plating beneath the ship's neck, impaling themselves deeply in the hull. A blue flame raced down the line until it reached the grapnel heads, suffusing the void around it with a pale flash of light as the electromagnets activated, clamping the heads even tighter unto the hull plating.

Falco was the next around, expertly deploying his grapnels on the exact opposite position of Abbey's so as to equalize the strain of towing.

Krystal veered in for her approach, closely tailed by two Wolfens. Her shot however was foiled by her pursuers- while one clunked solidly onto the Great Fox, albeit several meters to the left of its destination, the other smashed the cockpit of the trailing Wolfen, causing it to sheer away and began dragging the Cerulean Blue with it. The shear forces mounted on both lines, and even as Krystal released the snared line, the other ripped loose from the Great Fox, bringing with it a tangle of hull plating. Resetting her second grappler, the vixen was soon able to obtain one hit in the proper place, a second following once the section of hull plating had been detached.

Booster rockets ignited with explosive force, hurling each of the three pilots back into their seats with the pressure of acceleration. Almost immediately, warnings began to pan across their computer screens as the shearing force upon the lines began to rise, the Great Fox bucking and slewing away from the Venomian lines. The three Arwings strained, bringing the errant ship back on course with much difficulty. The Diamond Star abruptly spun as Abbey lost control, the Arwing swinging upwards to entangle another set of lines.

"Sorry, sorry!" called the panicked otter as she saw Krystal struggling to regain control. With a sickening crunch, the Diamond Star and the Cerulean Blue locked together. The vixen looked over at the otter.

"No harm done," she assured Abbey. "We're gonna loose more grappler lines, though." She turned back ahead. "We're going to have a heck of a time getting back, though."

"Especially with the shear," observed Falco. "With the Great Fox going all over the place, we'll never make it."

"Which is why I'm shutting down the engines," interjected Fox. "I'd suggest you slow down to avoid snapping the lines."

"That'll leave the ship dead in the water, Fox!" protested Abbey. "It'll also reduce our maximum speed by about three-quarters. It's suicide!"

"Falco was right," replied Fox, waving a paw. "With the Great Fox pulling away, all you're going to do is pull the ship further away from the Venomians. Andross is ordering an attack at this moment, but unless we get past their lines, we'll likely be caught in the crossfire."

"Still-" began Falco when, with a gentle rumble, the Great Fox's engines cut out. Grudgingly, the avian began to slow down, nimbly dodging out of the way as the ship coasted forward to nearly strike his wings. This done, the Arwings resumed their rush ahead, now dragging the enormous dead weight of the Great Fox.

* * *

They had only been moving for a few, beautifully quiet minutes when the entire procession came under heavy fire, the aparoids swinging around from countering Andross's imminent counteroffensive to engage the haggard and worn Great Fox. 

Abbey's paws tightened on her controls, but she resisted the ever growing urge that was building within her to roll. Doing so would likely rip out half of Krystal's cockpit, and snarl the lines even further. But to her right, past Krystal, Falco was unable to suppress years of pilot training and rolled, his line snarling up and braiding into an impossibly hard helix of sinew-like steel. The Gale Storm abruptly reversed direction as the energy within the twisting cables mounted, then acted, spinning the Arwing around with enough force to completely disorient Falco, who swerved and very nearly ran into Abbey before his avian abilities restored his bearings

* * *

As the beleaguered Arwings staggered on, the Great Fox lit up behind them like some fireworks barge gone berserk as Fox, Slippy, and Century ran about the bridge as if their tails were on fire, throwing switches and firing weapons in every conceivable direction. When this proved to be largely ineffective against the building swarm outside, Fox locked eyes with Century and gave a tiny nod, jerking his head towards the lift. 

Century understood instantly and was gone in a black streak of fur, the lift doors slamming behind him as he raced for the hangar.

* * *

Outside the protective walls of the bridge, lasers were pouring in so thick that many actually impacted with one another, exploding into fiery gouts of short-lived flame, shockwaves rippling out from these detonations to rock any ship nearby. The powerful shield generator of the Great Fox continued to rotate its shield frequencies, foiling any and all attempts to pelt the ship with infectious lasers. The remaining weapons mounted on the ship fired everywhere, and with the spread of the enemy, they could not fail to hit. Yet with each successive salvo, the Great Fox began to drag a little more, the shields flashed less brightly, and the firepower streaming from every conceivable point on the ship began to falter and fall away. 

"How far?" roared Falco, angrily swiping a wing across his sweat-soaked forehead as his lasers batted away an oncoming Wolfen. "How far!?"

"Eight thousand!" yelled back Fox, fighting to make himself heard over the crashing bangs as explosions rumbled through the ship and the rising scream of failing computers drowned out the background swearing of the normally clean-mouthed Slippy Toad. "It's becoming holy hell up here, Falco, so if you can give us anything more, give it!"

"This is all we got!" shot back the avian, and his Arwing lurched to the impact of a blast. An alarm began to sound as plasma suddenly began to leak from the right side of his engine. This burst into flame. Falco swore heartily, drowning out everybody else who was attempting to use the comm line with his colorful language.

The distance continued to drop, yet visually, there was no reassuring, looming figure of a Venomian cruiser. They were still too far away.

* * *

Fox paced helplessly, paws clenched tightly into fists of rage as he vented his frustration by boring holes in the deck with his combat boots. His ship was collapsing all around him, and there was nothing he could do but rely on his teammates. 

_That should be good enough_, he realized, and a brief ray of hope lanced through his heart, lifting it slightly out of the pit of despair it had tumbled into. _A leader who doesn't trust his own team is no leader at all._

* * *

Outside, a desperate race was taking place as the three Arwings strained against their lines, which were now positively humming with the strain upon their lengths. The black, almost unseeable Jet-Lag was swooping in and around these three, fighting off the aparoids who threatened to engulf the three valiant tugs that were the last hope for the team. 

"Cent, behind you!" warned Falco, spotting a trio of Wolfens falling in behind the hound, who was rapidly being overwhelmed by the sheer force of numbers upon him.

"Cent? Cent?" muttered the canine to himself, indignance coloring his voice. He threw his fighter into the hardest bank he'd put the ship through yet, wincing as the frame began to groan under the stress. A shot of his boosters flipped the tables within seconds as he suddenly spun upon his tail and opened fire onto the onrushing aparoids, unable to turn away at their pursuit speeds. The hyper lasers burnt into them, sending crystalline armor flying off into space. With a great blast of flame and a tremendous shockwave, the lead Wolfen exploded, causing the other two to lose control and careen into each other, breaking them apart like glass.

"Score another-!" began Century when he was slammed into his cockpit wall, head colliding with the glass of his canopy. An explosion of color, brighter then the Great Fox at its best, shot across his vision, and the roaring of flames resonated thunderously in his ears, a hurricane within his head. Everything was blurry, shaken, moving-

"Century!" screamed Krystal, probing his mind with a painful, stinging spike of urgency. "Pull yourself together, now!"

"Wha-" replied the dazed hound, blinking, clapping a paw to the side of his head. It came away wet and sticky, his fur matted now with blood. His blood. He shook his head very slightly, wincing at the crashing pain that assailed him and at the sound of spattering blood. "Wha...wha happened? Ooof!" He cried out as his ship was set upon by the swarm, who almost seemed to sense that he was disabled.

"You hit a tow line!" cried a panicked Abbey. "Century, get out of there, quick!"

"Coming, coming," he said, his vision fogging and fading even as the slurred words tumbled from his mouth, an uneven torrent of jumbled letters and syllables that was difficult to understand over the general chaos of battle. Almost out of sheer instinct, one paw grasped his throttle and threw it wide open, the crippled and badly-leaking Jet-Lag crawling back into the hangar, one wing exploding into flame from a stray laser even as the ship passed through the force fields at the hangar's mouth.

* * *

"Now what?" whimpered Abbey, looking to Falco for support. The avian gave a tiny shrug, and opened his beak to lend his strength to hers when a colossal force rammed into the battle-scarred group of ships. Fox was thrown to the floor, Slippy into the viewpane by the force of the blow. Peppy had managed to brace himself in his chair, clinging onto it like a lifeboat that kept him above the swaying deck. 

The initial shock was followed by a second that threw everybody in the opposite direction. The disabled Great Fox, and the three silent Arwings, their pilots shell-shocked and unmoving, were suddenly hauled forwards as if by a giant hand as they were enveloped by the lurid, glaring red of a Venomian tractor beam.

* * *

Ceiling plating was falling in and sparks were erupting from the deck and walls in the oddest of places. Flames roared out of damaged conduits and several more consoles exploded in bursts of deadly shrapnel and showers of electricity. The whirlwind of metal never ceased as the Great Fox vibrated, groaning, supports shrieking as it was pulled like a toy kite in a gale.

* * *

The Arwings had disconnected their lines and just managed to slip back into the hangar when the Great Fox roared past the satellite that had brought them in. Using a barely-functioning lift to make it to the bridge, the rest of the team staggered into the control room just as the viewscreen lit up with orange flame as the Great Fox plunged to earth in a fiery, crimson comet, wingtips exploding into fire and smoke as the ship continued down. 

Below them, the surface of Venom rushed by in a fantastic panorama. Rockets flailed about desperately as the Great Fox automatically attempted to lower its landing vector. Slippy threw up his pudgy arms, shielding his eyes. Fox grabbed onto Peppy, shielding the old hare with his body from the front of the room.

Century gripped a rail until his paws nearly shone white beneath his jet-black fur.

Abbey and Falco embraced, fur and feathers intertwining.

The ground suddenly loomed large in their view, and there was a horrible, crunching noise as the ship's bottom touched ground, spinning the ship upwards briefly before the craft hit the ground again in a jarring impact. The ship raced along the ground in a blaze of fire and smoke, explosions rippling all over the hull as critical systems ruptured and combusted in flashes of light and sparks.

The remains of the Great Fox screeched to a halt many miles from its point of impact, a smoking, flaming wreck that was once Star Fox's proud flagship, a beaten, broken thing that bore no resemblance to the proud bird-of-war it had been just hours before.


	33. Stormchaser

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Thirty chapters, all! Let's get the old Great Fox back in the air! 

...maybe. Here, the 100,000-word mark has been broken!

* * *

**Chapter 30 Stormchaser  
**

* * *

Smoke wisped in lazy spirals up towards the heavens, tendrils of grey straining skyward before being swept away by the wind. Dry, yellowed grass billowed and swayed in undulating waves of gold, bowing this way and that to the force of nature's breath. Miles and miles of this desolate grassland, pockmarked by great patches of barren, dry soil stretched in all directions, halted only by a ring of foothills surrounding this field. For that reason, it was called Sandy Basin, a great, gently-sloping depression that ran many hundred mile north and south. Only two ponds existed in this plain, one a shallow and murky thing, the other a clear, cool cistern whose waters were fatal for all creatures, poisoned by radiation from some year long gone. 

The pale gold of the grasses deepened with the coming of twilight. Solar was now setting upon this part of Venom, casting its last rays of feeble light over the basin. Indeed, twilight was already well advanced, and light abruptly drained from the basin, plunging it into a grey, sinister darkness.

Silhouetted starkly against the dying afterglow on the horizon, five miniscule dots hove into view, enlarging rapidly as they sped away from Solar at fantastic speeds, almost as if they were daring those last rays of light to chase them. One of these objects flew under a beam of radiance, its polished metal sharply reflecting the soft glow of twilight- a Venomian fighter, diamond shaped with a raised stern to accommodate the cockpit, they were, in essence, simply elongated diamonds with lasers mounted beneath the nose and a smart bomb launcher between these. A bright, blue sphere of ionized energy was their propulsion, and with no wings on them to induce drag and their G-Slipstreams to diffuse the power of gravity, they were easily matches for even the most advanced of of Arwings. They flew now into the black pit of the Basin in a delta formation, a tiger named Buckley O'Reilly at point.

Upon the two ventral facets of each of the five Silverian-Class fighters, a powerful searchlight snapped on, projecting two spots of brilliant white light upon the plain grasses, turning them an eerie, milky white. The resemblance of these two spotlights to that of the eyespots of a moth was uncommon.

Below the formation, the ground was lit by a spectral, faint, azure glow by the light of their engines and ahead, milky white by the light of the searchlights. Around each of the sapphire orbs of ionized energy the fighters projected were four bars of red, one in each facet- the glow of the essential G-Slipstream, without which each of the five would soon plunge to their deaths.

Buckley O'Reilly's eyes intently scanned the level grassland passing by him on both sides of his nose, reaching a paw to his dashboard as he did so, leaning forward to facilitate the movement. His paw struck the switch he was looking for, flipping it from one setting to the other. He pressed the button next to this switch a second afterwards, opening a visual-audio channel to the rest of his team.

"Alright guys," he said, "fan out and conduct a grid search. If you see something, kill the engine and ping us. Don't get too near the surface unless you have to. Clear?"

"Crystal." was the unanimous reply from each of the four wingmates, and they broke off to conduct their searches, keeping as far from the irradiated ground as possible.

* * *

"Krystal," wheezed Fox, picking himself up gingerly, careful not to disturb the unconscious hare who rested against him, cushioned in his crash by Fox's body. 

"Abbey!" he called, raising his voice. There were sounds of thrashing in the pitch black of the bridge, and then a weak voice rang out in the darkness.

"Here," she said, in a quailing tone that rose and fell, strained almost imperceptibly with pain. "I'm okay...ugh!" She gave a grunt- there was the sound of sliding. "I think my leg's broke."

"I'm here, too, Fox," said Krystal, her voice coming from some corner of the room. "I'm pinned by a girder or something- it's heavy." Her raspy breathing suddenly seemed to fill the room. "It's...hard to breathe..."

"Right," said Fox, voice flat. In his mind, he was already accounting for everyone. "Century?"

"Still bleeding," came an almost cheerful answer, "but otherwise, okay. I grabbed onto something slimy and I wasn't as banged up as everyone else."

"That something slimy," said a grumpy voice, "happened to be me, Slippy." Fox could barely contain unbidden and most certainly inappropriate laughter as the toad continued. "I grabbed the rear railing of the command platform and hung onto that. Century nearly pulled my foot out a second later."

"Alright, that's you, Abbey, Century, and Krystal," rattled off Fox, "so that leaves Peppy, who's out for the count, but otherwise alright, and...Falco!"

"Here, Foxie," came a voice roughened by pain. "Abbey broke her arm, I broke my wing. I'll live, though. It ain't bleedin' or anything."

"That's a relief," said Fox, dryly. "Can you move? We'll need to splint it."

"Considering we just fell to the planet at five hundred or so k-p-h, I say we look a damn sight better than we should," said Falco in high bad temper. "Splinting my wing's the least we have to do. Fix Abbey's leg, first."

"True," admitted Fox. "I'll try to wake Peppy. Slippy, can we get the lights?"

"Nothing electrical," groused the toad in reply. "Everything hooked to the power core is shot. It's amazing the thing didn't explode on impact!" When there was no reply but a frosty silence and the weight of Fox's unseeable, but unmistakable glare, Slippy hastened to continue. "Erm...I can get you chemical, gimme a moment."

There was the sound of scrabbling for a time, then the room was flooded with fluorescent, orange light. Almost immediately, Falco, who had the sharp eyes of his falcon ancestors began to get a headache from the lurid glow.

Slippy, who's skin had now turned a wan color of brownish-green, shrugged. "Sorry, best I can do."

* * *

"If only this damn radiation wasn't scrambling our sensors," griped a frustrated pilot, "we'd have found them long since! I hate looking for stuff in here, it's like chucking a baseball into a forest!" 

"Well, said baseball fell into the forest," rumbled Buckley, voice bearing every sign of danger, laced with exasperation and annoyance, "and I'm telling you to go find it! Now!"

The group continued on in silence for a time, each pilot trying different methods- diluting their lights over wider areas, panning the searchlights, flying in wiggling lines- nothing worked. Buckley was about to give up and call it all a bad job when he spotted a faint crimson glow that was most definitely out of place in the stygian darkness, far on the horizon. It was the work of a few seconds to slam in a key sequence that zoomed his HUD in upon the glow.

Buckley's breath caught in his throat. It was unmistakably the wreck of the Great Fox.

* * *

The half-destroyed remains of the bridge rumbled suddenly to the rolling of thunder, and soon, the pattering of rain. Fox looked up with a groan- it was well known the vulpine detested precipitation in all forms but for snow. The moment passed, and Fox turned his attention back to Century. 

"Hup, one, two...three!" On cue, the canine lifted his end of the girder, and both strained as Krystal squirmed from beneath the support, finally managing to slip out from beneath the metal. She yelped as Fox lost his grip, slamming the girder to the empty deck. Wringing his paws, the vulpine uttered a foul curse before moving his gaze to Krystal.

"You hurt?" he asked, extending a sweat-soaked paw. Krystal gave a nod, taking the proffered appendage and pulling herself to her feet. The vixen's gaze swept the room, every object in harsh contrast from the burning chemical lights that cast that horrible orange glow everywhere. Slippy was resolutely hacking at the lift controls with what looked like a wrench- Falco and Abbey were tending to each other with the bridge medkit. Peppy was awake and diagnosing what was left of the bridge, recoiling every few seconds when sparks would fly from a random part of the ceiling, illuminating the room briefly with a flash of white. Spiderwebbed cracks extended across the viewpanes, some much deeper fractures turning the tempered glass a milky white.

There was a sharp crackle that drew everyone's attention at once. Slippy jumped back as, with an explosive spray of sparks, the lift doors opened. Bent joints shrieked and whined as a coughing motor erratically pushed them apart, the mangled door sliding open to reveal an empty shaft. Slippy peered down it, careful to keep well away from the feebly-sparking control panel which he'd short-circuited to force the opening.

"No luck," he reported, pushing himself back into a standing position. "Lift's broken at the bottom. We'll need to use the Jefferies tube."

"No such luck," reported Century gloomily, looking into the access tube with the hatch still in his paws. Lit sporadically by the same orange lights that now shone down upon the bridge, sparks ripping from damaged conduits cascaded down one tube, promising death by electrocution to anyone who dared try that way. And even as he crawled in a ways to inspect the other routes, they were all either crushed, blocked by debris, or otherwise uninhabitable. He pulled himself out, shaking his head to wring the stale air from him.

"They're all blocked. We'll have to try the lift shaft."

* * *

Great, rippling waves of grain rolled across the countryside, bleached white in the light of the Venomian search team. Flying now in a straight line, they sought to regain the contact that Buckley had just lost. Whatever fires on the Great Fox had been extinguished by the driving wind and rain. 

Lightning forked menacingly out of a black, grey-studded sky, tendrils of simmering plasma and electricity lancing through the air to produce a brilliant flash of white that nearly blinded the five pilots making their way into the storm. Each kept their head glued to the ground below them, as if that would protect them from the glare of the heavens, the bolts of lightning now igniting fires all over the plain.

"Ignore them, they're siren's lights," muttered Buckley, referring to a term coined by searchers long ago to describe distracting, often fatal elements in a search. There was a low chorus of agreement from his team.

For a few more minutes, there was nothing but the crashing knells of thunder and the steady humming of engines. A scorching radiance suddenly erupted from the maw of the fighter upon Buckley's right as two lasers whistled off ahead, casting a pale, ethereal blue light upon the ground as they passed, before exploding dully against the foothills miles away.

"Nice try, ensign," remarked Buckley in a dry voice, "but no dice." They cruised on in silence for some time longer. Then, without warning-

"There, see it?!"

"See what!"

"I saw it, I just flew right over it!"

"You're dreaming, that was the pond."

"No, it was white, not blue!"

"Smoke, I see smoke!"

"Everybody, shut up!" roared O'Reilly, immediately halting all conversation on the comm channel. "Come about, slow down to ten k-p-h. I want a visual confirmation in ten minutes, or we're moving off again."

Quiet reigned for some time longer- then a cry of, "Found them!" The fighters began to converge, searchlights training on the bridge of the Great Fox.

* * *

Peppy was the first to notice the spots of light dancing now upon the ruined viewpanes. "Hey guys, look up!" he called. Everyone turned, relief crossing their faces as the lights panned about. It couldn't be anything but searchlights. 

An odd, distorted squawking suddenly burst from Krystal's comm station, garbled, wobbling tones crackling across the room and punctuated by rushes of static. This went on for a few seconds, everyone staring incredulously at the comm station. A light blinked feebly and the transmission ceased.

* * *

"Sir, chances are their comm is down," reminded an ensign, the same one who had fired his lasers several minutes ago. Buckley shook his head in chagrin- he had forgotten about the possibility. 

"Right. Okay then, you lot, get back to base and get a salvage vessel or a repair ship, or whatever they've got, and bring it up here. I'll take my chances with the radiation and see if they're still alive in there."

The other four fighters milled for a moment, until Buckley added, "You're in command, Borneo." A simian nodded, and the rest of his flight took off, quickly fading away in the darkness.

Buckley heaved a dramatic sigh and began to circle in for a landing vector, looking for the upper hangar of the Great Fox.

* * *

"Slippy?" 

"Yeah?"

"Remind me again why the Dreadnought-Class only has a lift as a bridge exit?"

"Because the ship's designed to carry less crew than any other starfleet ship. All the area around the bridge is essentially a giant computer core."

"Thank you. Still, why couldn't they put a damn hallway instead of a freaking elevator?"

"Take it up with them, not me."

"Sorry."

As the most able-bodied of the team, Fox and Slippy had gone climbing down the lift shaft- no easy task by any means. The walls were smooth and featured few handholds. The crash had broken some plating off, affording them several precarious places to latch onto, but it had also broken several live power conduits and the like, creating a veritable maze of sparks and plasma gas. A touch of either would send the two plummeting to their death in a two-story fall to the wreck of the lift car below.

The descent was long and arduous, but both Fox and Slippy made it without further incident. Fox trooped off to find something that might pad the shaft floor enough to make a jump feasible, while Slippy busied himself trying to see what was left of the lift car.

That wasn't much. However, clearing away the loose rubble, Slippy found to his delight and relief that the floor was still mostly intact, meaning the repulsor systems below it were probably still functioning. If power could be given to them, that was.

Slippy put a finger to his mouth as he thought, eyes going blank and unfocusing. He snapped his fingers and scurried off the same way Fox had gone.

* * *

Fox rooted through his room and the adjoining quarters, which were Krystal's. As he highly doubted a bed mattress would be sufficient, and that he could drag one down the hall even if he could, he looked for blankets and other such things when he heard Slippy race by in the hall. Curious, the vulpine stuck his head out. 

"Slippy?" he called. There was a muffled grunting from Krystal's room. Fox catapulted himself around the doorjamb to find Slippy raising his wrench above his head. Fox looked at the glass case the toad was about to break, shaking his head in puzzlement.

"What're you going to-"

"Save it, Fox," interjected Slippy. The wrench came down with a shattering blow, sending fragments of glass spinning off in all directions. Fox was nearly impaled upon the head of Krystal's staff as the toad rushed from the room bearing it before him with a muffled apology.

Fox turned into the hall, about to warn Slippy to collapse the staff when the toad lowered the point a tad too much, pole-vaulting into a wall. Fox gave a chuckle and jogged over.

"This isn't the Three Stooges," he rebuked the groaning toad, who picked up the staff again and continued, very nearly getting the staff stuck lengthwise in the doorjamb of the lift shaft as he ran in, stepping gingerly around the wreckage of the lift.

Fox poked his head in once more. "What are you doing?" he inquired, watching Slippy spin the staff above his head and smash it into some of the larger fragments of debris, the staff breaking the metal apart as if it were brittle glass.

"Electricity," he wheezed, nearly falling from the weight of his swing. Fox looked thoughtful a moment, then nodded.

"It just might work," he mused aloud, a paw on his chin. Fox extended his paw. "Now, give me that thing before you hurt yourself."

* * *

"Alright, Fox, give it a go!" said Slippy, some time later. Fox held the staff in his hands, feeling its length grow warm at his touch. Giving the staff a practice whirl over his head, the vulpine slammed the tip of the staff so it connected with a power conduit, giving the staff a half twist and running a mental order through his head, in the foremost of his thoughts. 

An arc of lightning leapt from the head of the staff, blue sparks flying from tip to tip in a brilliant show of incandescent light. Fox never flinched as the electricity crackled about his paws. He levered the staff deeper into the conduit. The remains of the lift gave a shudder.

"Going up!" crowed Slippy, holding onto a wall fragment as the repulsors went to work, lifting them upwards towards the bridge.

* * *

Abbey was leaning upon the smoking remains of her console, panting heavily as her leg gave a painful twinge. The pain relief hadn't taken effect yet, and she convulsed in a tiny spasm as another wave of pain went racing up her leg. Her side ached, even though it was unharmed. Abbey knew from her medical training was a side effect- her nervous system was transmitting pain messages from more places than it was supposed to. 

Falco was next to her, hissing slightly with each movement of his wing. Avian wings were far more sensitive than the legs of otters, and the fracture was costing him dearly. But he had staggered around a bit once his wing was splinted to help Century, Peppy, and Krystal with what needed to be done. That was, trying to clear the bridge for operations and get something to work.

The horrible rattling of a barely-functioning lift drew everyone's attention, however, and as the foursome turned to the open portal, Fox and Slippy came into view, rising from the floor with a pillar of crackling electricity sparking in Fox's grasp. Krystal immediately knew it was her staff, and she reached for it as she moved to Fox.

The vulpine laughed and handed it over to her. "Careful, now," he warned. Krystal beamed at him.

"You're still good with it," she said. Fox's cheeks flushed slightly. Reading Slippy's thoughts, she also knew he'd come up with the idea, and she gave the toad a friendly pat.

"Good job, Slippy. I don't think I'd have thought of this myself." Slippy gave a small grin, then, stuffing two fingers into his mouth, gave a piercing whistle.

"All aboard!" he called. Supporting Abbey on their shoulders, Peppy and Falco were the first in. Century followed, and Krystal began to drain power from her staff. The lift sank once more, down to the upper deck.

* * *

"We need to decide where to go," said Fox, pacing the length of his room. Everyone else had taken a seat, and was watching him intently as he continued to pace. "The upper flight deck, the lower deck, or the docking hatches? Maybe the airlocks?" 

"We might have lost the Mark III's in the crash," warned Slippy. They might've been ripped from their housings. I'm not sure if it'd be safe to try it."

"How about my shuttle?" asked Krystal.

"Probably damaged as well," admitted Slippy. "I never thought the Great Fox would crash or anything, so I didn't secure it well. I mean," he added, defensive now, "it was a one in a million thing!"

"It's fine, Slippy," sighed Peppy, "but that might've made things easier. Still, no need crying over lost apples. I personally don't think I'd be up for going down another few decks, though, so I'll have to say the upper flight deck."

Fox looked slightly troubled, then nodded, looking around the room for signs of agreement. He found them, and made his decision.

"Alright then, the upper flight deck it is."

* * *

Although the G-Slipstream had evolved much in recent years, negating the effects of the wind was still far beyond its capabilities, and Buckley was being reminded of that fact again as his fighter rocked, buffeted by the howling gale now blowing outside. 

Frustrated, Buckley throttled down his engines again, coming in for another low pass, eyes straining through the murk to find the black opening of the upper hangar. Black upon grey, a contrast so slight, he could have flown by the aperture five times and never seen it.

The tiger swore again as he made another pass, and he was descending a few meters for the next round when he saw it, at the same time as a powerful wind seized his craft and threw it forwards.

An instinctive booster thrust spun his ship into the hangar, and although it struck the hangar edge with a fearsome crash and a spray of sparks, Buckley was able to slip it inside with minimal damage. Dodging over a partially disassembled Landmaster, the Silverian nudged itself into a universal docking port, small clamps extending from its sides to latch onto the lift lock.

His canopy shot open with a mechanical whine, the only sound except for the pattering and dull thuds of the wind, rain, and thunder outside. The pilot hauled himself from his cockpit and leapt onto the flight deck, eyes casting about as he surveyed the dismal scene.

The harsh, dim orange glow that lit several small patches of the room was clearly coming from chemical lamps- pools of foul-smelling liquid that had formed on the steel floor was clearly the result of many broken lamps. Some glowed a faint orange, but without the vacuum tube to act as a catalyst for their light-producing reactions, these pools gave only the weakest of glows.

A sharp crack of thunder, along with the customary explosion of lightning drew the pilot's attention to the hangar mouth. The torrential downpour was fast flooding the chamber, and with no power to activate the protective force field or shut the blast doors, there was nothing to stop the incoming deluge of storm water.

In the dim lighting of the hangar, Buckley could faintly see what looked like a power relay. Feverently hoping this was the case, the tiger reached made a careful jump so he was perched upon the rim of his cockpit, and seizing a spare power cable for situations like these, he leapt back to the deck and dragged the cord with him, jamming it into the relay's reticule.

Or tried to, at least. The Cornerian outlet was different from the Venomian standard. Swearing foully, the tiger raced back to his ship to seize a power converter and flick it to the Venomian  Cornerian setting. Dashing back again, he seized his cable, plugged it into the adaptor, and then attached the whole assembly to the relay.

Lights flickered on in the ceiling, and the flood of water came to a halt as the force fields snapped on. A large, black, and mirror-like pool now covered much of the lower deck, but that was fine- the important assemblies, the launching tracks, the Arwings, and what looked like a shuttle- were all well above water and relatively intact.

Relatively.

* * *

Krystal rammed her staff into the door and wedged it open, the jammed portal emitting an unearthly screech as it was forced open. They continued on, bypassing corridors that were flooded with sparks or blocked by debris, plunging into these when all else failed. As the groaning of the stressed hull increased with the rise of the wind, they emerged onto the access corridor leading to the hangar. Krystal gave a sudden start as she sensed a presence, even as Century, Fox, Falco, and Slippy whipped out blasters upon realizing the door at the end of the hall was open, and there was someone inside. 

Buckley stepped under one of the chemical lamps, holding a kneecap. He gave a tiny grin to Fox.

"Nice ship you got, slammed my knee three or four times in your hangar. Now, let's get going, shall we?"

"You said you have a salvage vessel on the way?" asked Fox, clearly reluctant to leave his ship. Buckley gave an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, and I've left a signal beacon here that they will be able to home in on. I told you, this area is irradiated from the Lylat War, and we'll need to get going soon."

Fox looked unsure. "But my ship..."

"Will be here in the morning," replied Buckley, with more force this time. "Come on, McCloud, it's just a ship." The tiger knew he'd said the wrong thing the moment the words left his mouth- Fox's eyes flashed dangerously and the thunderstorm suddenly seemed to move indoors, a miniature thunderhead building over the vulpine's ears.

Krystal reached out and touched Fox's forearm, bringing him back to reality. Fox glared at the tiger, who now bore a look of defiance upon his face, then grunted and walked over to his Arwing, swinging himself into the cockpit.

Using their G-Diffusers, the four Mark IIIs slipped from their lift locks and coasted to the hangar mouth, passing through the force field. Buckley disconnected the power line from the wall conduit, rolling up the line as the lights began to shut down. Water began to stream back into the hangar once again as Buckley activated his engines and G-Slipstream, his fighter streaking out into the stormy night. His paws tapped in a key sequence into his computer.

On the Great Fox, two, nondescript, silver nodes began to flash before exploding with a loud bang, producing an airborne shockwave that rippled through the hangar. Both blast doors were thrown shut, stemming the water streaming in from outside upon a barrier of duraluminum.

* * *

"The salvage ship," explained Buckley, having now joined the formation circling above the wreckage, "will use the matter transmission system to pick up the Great Fox and drop it off at a repair yard. We'll see what we can do with it." 

"Glad to hear," said Falco, sarcasm almost dripping from his beak. "We aren't going anywhere in the meantime."

"The Arwing III is essentially sublight," explained Slippy to a bemused looking Buckley. "We can't go to warp for any period of time, really, barely enough to do some planet hopping."

"I see," said the tiger, nodding slightly. "Well, our fighters are sublight, period. Emperor Andross is very careful about keeping us out of scanner range, so we have no need of long-range fighters just yet."

"You will, once this mess is all over," noted Krystal. "Lylat's getting too small to hide forever."

"You have a war ahead of you," replied Buckley. "I imagine you'll be far too busy to remember us."

"You're right. We have a job to do," put in Fox, and that essentially ceased all conversation. Except for the muted howling of the rising gale outside and the sporadic rumbles of distant thunder, it was quiet. All eyes were riveted in the Silverian fighter that flew ahead of them, lighting the way with the spherical orb behind it.

* * *

Buckley was silent, musing now upon what Krystal had said. Indeed, Lylat was now shrinking. He toyed with the idea of taking shore leave, to fly with Star Fox. But the idea seemed far fetched to him- from what he knew, the mercenaries were one of the most tightly-knit groups in the system, and they preferred to fly alone. 

He was still turning this idea over in his mind when, with a bone-rattling crash that drowned out everything. He could see parts of his cockpit exploding around him, his computer screen blackening. Sparks were shooting all around him, filling the cockpit. The storm began to fade around him, dissolving away into inky blackness.

* * *

Fox threw up his arm to shield his eyes from the glare, an incandescent explosion of azure light roiling up around O'Reilly's ship, sending crackling lances of electricity spinning away in all directions. 

Smoke began to pour from one of the G-Slipstream nodes. The sphere of ionized energy that drove the fighter flickered and flared, dancing as wild as a dying flame. Then it flashed, growing larger for a split second before it imploded with tremendous force, residual crackles of sapphire energy consuming the damaged engine node. The stricken Silverian yawed and rolled to the right before it began to make a plunging fall.

"All Arwings, on me!" yelled Fox, banking into a steep dive and racing the flailing fighter to the ground.

Peppy recognized at once what Fox was trying to do, and his boosters roared as he came in alongside the vulpine, wings crossing over one another. Blue sparks raced over the wings as the shield harmonics synchronized, and a green glow erupted from the combined eight G-Diffusers as they locked the ships together.

Abbey and Falco locked wings, being unable to join the larger formation because of their injuries. Krystal carefully nudged in between Peppy and Fox, her wings resting upon the forward hulls of both Arwings, before the cockpit. Sparks raced about as she connected to the formation.

Slippy fired a Nova bomb, detonating it to produce a brilliant flare of light that left Buckley's fighter in plain view.

Century carefully brought the Jet-Lag down to the ground as a last resort.

The triangle of Arwings slipped in beneath the remains of the Silverian fighter, the damaged hull landing neatly between Fox and Peppy's Arwings and held in by Krystal from the front.

* * *

Flying low to the ground, Abbey and Falco detached their fighters with a clang, moving forward to flank Fox, Peppy, and Krystal. Hugging the surface to avoid lightning, Slippy found himself having a different problem. 

Radiation.

As his sensors warned him of ever-rising levels of radiation, the toad blinked, giving his teammates the call to adjust their shields. Nevertheless, it was not long before the damaged Jet-Lag's shield power drained away. Slippy carefully approached the fighter, touching wings to protect Century with his shield matrix. But that would only drain his systems that much faster.

The adverse effects of the radiation soon began to tell upon Slippy, who was most susceptible to it. His vision was fogging, and he began to put his faith in Century to keep him on course. Ahead, the conjoined triangle of Peppy, Fox, and Krystal pooled their shield power to keep each other safe, but with the storm raging and the radiation below, it was unsafe to stop for any amount of time.

He had to press on. With his blood pounding through his temples and his vision tunneling, the amphibian began to struggle now, the weight of his craft now adversely affecting the Jet-Lag's performance.

Just before the roaring darkness took him, Slippy turned his ship over to the autopilot and prayed to the Creator that it would be enough.

A whining tone in Abbey's cockpit told her that Slippy had just lost consciousness. But as she bit her lip and looked over at Fox, she could almost see his face, grim and worried for his charge. She held her paw firmly away from the comm.

* * *

Ship vibrating from the strain of the engines, Fox looked out ahead of him into the rain-blasted, storm-tossed night. The deluge of the heavens never seemed to abate, and water was thudding into his canopy with such force, Fox wondered why it had not broken yet. 

Dodging foothills took the better part of an hour, and when the Arwings finally cleared the Basin, they were greeted by a welcome sight- a ring of bright sunlight that flared over the horizon. The end of the storm was in sight.

The clouds broke apart, pierced through by glorious rays of golden sunlight. The Arwings flew on, literally pressing back against time as the planet revolved beneath them. And it was with great relief and a near collapse that they hove into view of their destination- Venom City.

* * *

The VSS Horizon found the Great Fox just two hours after the beleaguered mercenaries had made the capital. The storm had since cleared, and dawn's soft touch was now illuminating the plains under a fine mist and golden haze. There was no evidence of the previous day's violence. 

Carefully positioning itself above the Great Fox, the ship began to hum with power as a shallow, violet half-dome on its underside was lit from within by some tremendous fire. A mechanical, keening whine filled the area as the Great Fox glowed a brilliant white, and was gone, leaving miles of scorched grass behind it and a great crater where it had come to rest.

* * *

The Horizon came over a large, flat pad of grey concrete, nondescript but for its size and elevation. The platform was covered by scaffolding, carefully arranged and grafted together at the quantum level. Satellite dishes on the ground aimed at the Horizon, discharging a glaring beam of green energy each. These threads of viridian took ahold of the salvage ship, almost twenty in number. Fox looked on as the tractors steadied the ship, and as the rest of his team came onto the windswept balcony, the platform was illuminated with a gentle sheen of white light. As the haze cleared, the Great Fox emerged, and the scope and scale of the damage now became apparent. 

Huge parts of ventral plating were staved in, other portions were simply ripped away to expose sparking components and bare girders. Part of one great wing had been ripped away, and the upper side of one of the three engines had been blasted apart by some ferocious detonation. Blackened armor plating littered the ship, scorched by laser fire or broken aparoid crystal. Huge breaches spanned every deck, rifts in the ship's skin baring skeletal girders. Just beneath the neck of the bridge, some terrible explosion had shredded the ship so it resembled a junkyard in that location. Scorch marks marred what hull plating was left, and even as they watched, the repair platform was jarred as, from the third auxillary power core, a wicked tongue of flame erupted from the core shaft and surged outwards, burning and melting some of the scaffolding. A detonation followed, sending more hull plating spinning off into the scaffolding.

* * *

Fox's paws gripped the rail tightly, face hard and tail limp. His ship was wrecked, his crew nearly dead, and the brave Venomian pilot who had risked his life to guide them back was in a critical state. Only the flicker of motion down below wrenched his thoughts away from the awful scenarios that could have occurred, had the ship been just a degree lower in its descent, if there had been one more hit... 

The few workers who had dared venture onto the pad had snapped to attention and were looking down at a great portal that was sliding open. A cloaked and robed form stepped forth and walked purposefully towards the wreck.

Fox blinked. Falco's eyes narrowed as Krystal simply stared. The others watched as the figure ascended the platform and looked sideways at someone who seemed to be the shipyard official. He gave a nod, and the repairmen trooped off the platform.

Andross looked at the warbird before him, eyes narrowing slightly. He hated to see a thing of such pride reduced to the smoldering wreck it now was. The acrid smell of smoke reached his nostrils, and his eyes flashed. His arms slipped from beneath his cloak and behind his back, paws raised to the sky. Andross's eyes closed.

There was a sudden roar of wind, and spores of light, violet in color, began to spin all around the rock-still ape. Fox was suddenly blasted back by some force, fur rippling backwards as he and the rest of his team grabbed for the rails. Fox fought his way to the front again, desperate to see what was happening to his ship.

The wind whipped by, drowning out all else in its throaty roar, but his eyes could still see the impossible happening before him. The ship was straightening, hull plating fading from black to customary silver, damaged circuitry flying together. The detached pieces of hull plating, all carefully retrieved by the Horizon, went soaring through the air to their rightful places. The crack between the wing fragment and the fin's main body disappeared in a flash of light, welded together by some supernatural force.

The minutes passed as the team watched, spell-bound as their ship reassembled itself. The crumpled lower hangar was forced open, its walls and deck straightening and pushing the fore of the ship up. The crackled glass of the viewpanes resealed, now glaringly bright. The fragments of the engine knit together, the rear hangar doors repaired themselves. The fragmented remains of auxiliary power core three flew together. All over the ship, lights snapped on and the engines started with a colossal roar, heard now even over the artificial gale.

And then it was over. The Great Fox rested upon the platform, as pristine as the day it was built. And then Andross turned on his heel and strode back into the main building, looking for all the world as if he had simply taken a walk through a park.


	34. Course Unknown

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Thanks to you all for your reviews! And now that we've gotten past the one-hundred thousand mark, it's onto the two-hundred! We've also passed 4,500 hits- thank you all for it! 

Book I: Lylat, is drawing to a close. We will see it end soon with what I hope to be a spectacular battle. And until then...well, you just wait and see!

* * *

**Chapter 31 Course Unknown**

* * *

None of the team had any contact with Andross for the next day or two- indeed, the simian appeared to be avoiding them as well, cooped up in his quarters for rest. With no new orders, the team got to work attempting to discern where the aparoids had come from, armed only with incomplete data salvaged from Slippy's Titanian Silver. 

While Slippy, Century, and Abbey pored over star charts, the others checked in on Buckley O'Reilly frequently, each hoping for the tiger to recover. His burns were healing rapidly under the care of a Venomian expert, but he had yet to awaken from his coma. The doctor had assured them that there were no signs of neurological damage, yet all of them, particularly Fox, checked in often for signs of improvement.

Fox had had a chuckle when the good doctor had offered him a cot in the sickbay. Although he wished for the Venomian pilot's recovery, he was unwilling to go that far yet. There were other matters that required his attention.

* * *

Slippy had by now very nearly scratched his name into the polished steel ring that surrounded the holographic projector used for situation briefings with his idle paws. He, along with the others, scrutinized every part of the three-dimensional map now floating in lazy circles before him. He rubbed his eyes. 

"We've been over this three times," said Abbey with a groan, leaning back in her chair. "Still nothing."

"Consider that what we're looking for might not be on the map?" posed Century, voice dry. He started when he noticed Slippy pounding his forehead into his paws. "Something wrong?"

"It's that direction," muttered the toad as a way of reply. "There's something awfully familiar about it, but I can't place it..."

"Oh," said Century simply. At this, Slippy's head snapped up.

"Say that again!" he demanded. Century looked nonplussed.

"All I said was oh," he said, looking at Abbey for confirmation. The otter nodded. Slippy snapped his fingers in annoyance.

"Sector O! Why didn't I think of it before!?" he exclaimed, throwing his paws up in distress. A short key sequence later, the map expanded suddenly to reveal a fourth nebula, this one fairly far from Lylat, shaped into a monstrous 'o'. Near the edge floated a midnight-blue sphere that seemed to shimmer with a wicked life of its own.

Abbey squinted at it, eyes narrowing. Hesitantly, she pointed a paw at it. "The Homeworld?" she asked, voice trembling slightly.

Slippy gave a slow nod. "The Homeworld."

* * *

It was the work of minutes to get the team assembled in the conference room of the Great Fox. Andross had also been invited, but citing a need for rest, the ape had declined the offer. Slippy paced in front of a large video screen mounted upon the wall, which was displaying a Star Fox screensaver at the moment- the famous, blood-red fox was floating around the confines of the monitors, bouncing off the walls with a spray of simulated sparks. As Slippy cleared his throat, the screensaver shut off to display an expanded map of Lylat. 

"I have reason to believe," he began, "that our answers lie within Sector O, the fourth micronebula of Lylat. The system was placed under heavy watch and guard, but with the advent of the Grallian War, security has become lax. I don't know why it didn't come to mind earlier," he continued. "The last ship sent on patrol, the CSS Petrel, never reported back. The report caused a furor only because Grallian involvement was suspected, but now I have reason to believe that there are more dangerous forces at work." With a wave of his paw, the screen zoomed in upon Sector O, with the iridescent purplish dot of the Aparoid Homeworld floating near one rim.

"Sector O was the site of the Aparoid Homeworld- and it is also directly upon the flight path the attackers used in their retreat today. There is no doubt. The Homeworld has reformed."

The lift door slid open with a low hiss, and the vulpine standing within it was already giving orders even as he stepped onto the bridge, the rest of his team filing out behind them to their respective stations, Krystal now moving to the more advanced comm station on one side rather than the simplified one near Fox. Computer tones raced through the air at ever-increasing intervals as various systems began to power up and activate. System status messages, targeting reticules, and a massive, ship-sized HUD flickered to life in lines of green text upon the viewpanes, the glass flaring to life and now abuzz and awash with computer noise and displays. Dark screens flared with light and screensavers snapped off, lighting came on to illuminate the room at full brilliance, all within the space of seconds.

* * *

A deep, evanescent rumbling began to roll through the ship, intertwining with a low humming as the antimatter power core and the twelve auxiliary cores came online and ramped up to full capacity, sending a surge of energy through conduits and relays to power the ship. 

Seconds passed as Abbey continued to adjust switches, levers, and computer screens, paws blurring as they moved over her console with practiced ease. A grid of small panels of text covered by glass to the right of her computer screen gave her a backup systems display. Lights began to flare on in many of these panels, accompanied by sharp clicks. A loud roar rebrevated through the ship. The walls began to shake and shudder, the information on the viewpanes becoming fuzzy and indistinct as the vibration continued.

* * *

Main Engineering was consumed by a roar as a stream of plasma was fed into the three engine chambers. A burst of power from the main core sent crackling arcs of blue lightning into the rapidly condensing plasma within the engine ports, snaking into the globe of scarlet matter and shattering it in a tremendous ignition that expelled azure flame from the ports. 

"Engines at thirty percent," muttered Abbey. "Thirty-five...forty...sixty-two...seventy-seven...eighty-three...ninety-eight...one-hundred percent!" Her voice rose at the last figure, and leaning forward, she threw open the ship's throttle, causing everyone to lurch slightly in their chairs.

* * *

The Great Fox lifted from the repair pad it still occupied, horrendous screeches of metal on concrete being drowned out by the rumbling of the engines. The battlecruiser ascended, then banked to starboard. As it did, the hull plating flickered with a shifting, wavering blue light as it polarized. The air became hazy as the shields came up, then cleared once the matrix had stabilized. A faint corona of white light began to spill from the rims of the engine ports as G-Diffusers activated, intermingling their green glow with the white shimmer. The Great Fox leapt forward, flames suddenly beginning to bivouac around the shields as the ship accelerated, friction birthing those flames that wreathed the ship with their effervescent glow. The fires died out within moments as the ship left the breathable atmosphere behind, winking out one after the other as they were starved for oxygen. 

In orbit around Venom, the Great Fox swooped past the charred hulk of a destroyed Venomian battleship before leaping to warp, casting a blinding white glare around it as it shot forwards and disappeared from view.

* * *

The ship rumbled slightly as plasma was cut from the main engines, the ion discharge lasting for several moments before it drained away, leaving only a deep, red afterglow lighting the port interiors until that, too faded, the remaining plasma having been completely exhausted. 

Abbey turned in her seat to look back at Fox, a small grin playing about her lips. "Course set- we'll be in sensor range within eight hours."

Fox shot her a look. "We can't go any faster?" he asked, feigning dismay. Abbey shook her head, causing her fur to ripple with the movement.

"Not unless you want to arrive in a couple of years," she remarked, voice dry, "as the ghost captain of a debris cloud."

Fox shut up then as Falco roared with laughter. Slippy looked over from the systems station, bemused, before proposing a game of billiards or cards. Struggling now to save face, Fox quickly agreed.

* * *

"Eight ball," announced Slippy, "in the side pocket." The toad pulled back his cue, then struck the ball dead center, sending his cue ball crashing into the signature black sphere and dropping it neatly into the indicated pocket. Fox gave a groan- Falco tapped his foot impatiently, wings crossed. 

"Yeah, yeah, frog-face wins again," he grumbled. "Anyone up for something else?"

"Absolutely not!" protested the toad, genuinely gleeful he'd found something that he could best Falco at. "Unless you'd like to try-"

"No!" said Falco, throwing his wings up. "Enough games!" He stormed from the room, leaving a trail of feathers in his wake. Fox chuckled, then set the balls up once more, before breaking the triangle with a crack.

* * *

An hour passed. A second followed on its heels. But the monotony was broken partway through the third hour by a call to the rec room from Abbey. 

"Fox?" she had said. "You'd better come take a look at this." Fox glanced over at Slippy, and was about to take a final shot when the unmistakable whine of the ship dropping from warp filled the air. Definitely concerned now, the vulpine spun his cue up and leaned it against the wall, exiting the room in a flash of russet fur.

Slippy shrugged and followed, dropping his cue to the floor where it landed with a hollow clack.

* * *

The lift doors opened to admit Fox and Slippy onto the bridge, where the others had already gathered. Abbey and Falco were bent over the helm console, turning around only after Fox loudly cleared his throat. Abbey flushed slightly, but was otherwise unaffected by the vulpine's entrance. 

"We were cruising at high speeds when Falco noticed something odd on scanners. I dropped out of warp to investigate. Take a look for yourself," she offered, stretching a paw up to point at the viewpanes. Fox looked.

The glass was studded everywhere with green markers, data scrolling next to these at fantastic rates. Abbey tapped a few keys, and the central pane magnified its image, many times, revealing an aparoid Wolfen.

Fox frowned. All systems on the craft were powered down, as if they had simply run out of fuel. But then why would the aparoids cause such a waste? As a diversion? Abbey shrugged at this.

"Likely this was a one-way mission," said Century, tapping one paw on his console. "They expected to take over Venom, didn't they? Guess they figured they could load up there."

"Still..." mused Fox, looking out at the wrecks surrounding the ship- almost the entire invasion force was here, floating impotently in this cloud of debris. He shook his head. "Never mind. Slippy, inverse the G-Diffuser field and increase power."

"I'm on it," said Slippy, making the necessary modifications. An alarm blared on Abbey's console, and the otter slowed the ship in response, watching the wreckage as she did.

Several Wolfens broke apart, shattered by the gravitational field. As power continued to flood into the G-Diffusers, however, a very different effect was seen. Fox watched with grim satisfaction as remaining Wolfens began to drift towards the Great Fox, drawing nearer and nearer before finally breaking like glass upon the shields.

Falco gave a low whistle as the number of targets began to fall. The situation hologram was soon clear of them, confirmed by Peppy after the aging hare reviewed the map several times to verify its readings.

Krystal sent a communication back to Venom, and then they were off again, the ship returning to warp with the customary rumble and flash.

* * *

"Breaking out of the warp stream," noted Abbey, pulling the ship from warp even as she spoke. There was the brief moment of turbulence as the ship decelerated to sub-warp speeds, and then further still to sublight velocities. The engines of the Great Fox restarted with a noise akin to the dull clap of thunder as ionized plasma was expelled from each port in a dancing cascade of azure particles. 

The first thing that came into view as the blurred lines of stars faded away was the enormous ring of nebulous gas that dominated the area, Sector O. Far larger than all three micronebulae in Lylat, yet smaller than a full nebula, Sector O was the remains of a dead star, filled with remains of some long gone planetary system. The viewpanes were filled once more with green targeting reticules as the computer sought out and found planetary debris and other objects of interest.

"Get us near that one," said Fox, pointing one gloved paw at a target larger than all the others. The engines began to cause a throbbing motion in the bridge deck as the Great Fox accelerated forwards, the distance gauge upon their quarry falling with each passing second.

Only when the object emerged from an ethereal haze of gas did Falco, with his sharp eyes, realize what they were looking at.

"That's it," he said. "That's what we're looking for."

It was a large fragment of the Aparoid Homeworld, broken crystal drifting all around it in a thick debris cloud that no doubt had obscured this larger piece from the initial surveys of the area. A few aparoids swooped about in an aimless manner, yet even as the Great Fox drew near, many of these ceased all movement.

The remains of a satellite fired several weak laser bursts in protest of Star Fox's entry, but a single burst from the forward cannons silenced this relic.

Fox looked around at the destruction, eyes taking in every inch of it. "Looks like we finished our job," he noted. "But the aparoids?"

"Fox, there are energy readings all over the place. Very faint, all on a very low frequency."

"What is it?" asked Century, beating Fox to the question. "Geothermic? Nuclear?"

"No..." said Peppy, reading the information of Slippy's console. "But the readings remind me of something. We got very similar energy readings...over Sauria."

"Magic?" asked Krystal, stepping forwards with interest, surveying the readouts with equal vigor. "Can our scanners pick it up?"

"Yes," replied Peppy, "but more often then not as an absence of something, rather then as energy. Magic is strange stuff, yet I can't think of anything else it might be."

"Maybe we should transport someone down?" offered Century. "Or take Krystal's shuttle?"

"The latter," replied Fox. "Our MTS can't handle life forms, nor can any in the system. You'd end up a perfect corpse, though. The shuttle it is."

Abbey rolled her eyes as the vulpine left the room. "He's strange sometimes, isn't he?"

Krystal sighed. "Someone needs to adjust his sense of humor."

* * *

Although the Cernian shuttle had been taken aboard the Great Fox II out of storage, in the intervening time since the Aparoid War and the present, only Slippy had set foot in it. Even he had been unable to discern anything about the technology, as a security device of some sort had thrown him from the vehicle. Krystal now stepped up to the transport and placed her paw upon its side, closing her eyes. With a brief telepathic exchange, she disengaged the safety fields and started the craft, the door sliding open to admit the team. 

Inside the transport, controls were minimal- a two-handled flight yoke and three status screens formed the interface. A flashing, dome-like node on the ceiling drew Slippy's attention.

"That?" asked Krystal, following the toad's gaze to the half-dome. "Most of the shuttle's controls are operated telepathically. That node is there to improve...ah, reception."

Intrigued now by the shuttle's workings, Fox made an inquiry as he sat down in a chair close to Krystal. "How come you never made contact with Lylat? You certainly seemed capable of it."

"The Cernian High Council," replied the vixen, swiveling in her chair, "was very isolationist in principles and conduct. And now," she said, sadness weighing down her voice, "look where that got us."

A respectful silence was maintained by the team on the rest of the way down, the shuttle firing its engines with a burst of fire and a low hum, leaving ROB in the Great Fox to fly the ship.

* * *

The Homeworld fragment loomed ever larger in the viewpane until its edges were no longer visible- only the surface before them, gaining more detail with each moment. Krystal leveled out the shuttle and brought it to earth with a gentle thump, and she was moving to open the door when Fox stopped her. 

"Is there a breathable atmosphere out there?" he asked, directing his question to Slippy.

"There is one," interjected Krystal, voice sharp and curt. "I checked." The hatch flew open, and the vixen left with an aura of desolation coloring the air in her wake.

It was only then that Fox noticed that her staff was clutched in one paw, collapsed, but still glowing faintly.

He blinked.

_Glowing?_

* * *

**Featured Technology: Matter Transmission System (MTS)

* * *

**The matter transmission system, or MTS for short, is a specialized device that is capable of transporting various states of matter within a short time, and over short distances. No MTS has yet been able to send an object further than the poles of a planet before the object begins to deteriorate. 

No MTS is capable of transmitting bio-matter, ruling out the possibility of using it as a form of immediate transport.


	35. The Future is the Past

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: The first podcast for Database Three is now complete! I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed recording it- despite my poor microphone. I don't have a cold, folks! 

Events of this chapter will give you a sneak peek at the events of Red Skies!

Anyways, you can find the podcast up on D3- the link is on my profile. Please let us know what you think!

* * *

**Chapter 32 The Future is the Past **

* * *

The remains of the Aparoid Homeworld were little more than a desolate, featureless wasteland of blue crystal. These cells of diamond had once been transparent, throbbing with the unnatural life of the aparoids. Now, they were cracked and opaque, no longer windows down to the remains of the planetary core far below. In some places, the dark shape of a crystal pillar could be seen, looming up from beneath the surface like a predatory shark. But most of the terrain was clouded and misty, a shadow of what had been. 

Krystal's staff continued to glow with a bloody, crimson light that tainted the air around it with its hue. The staff's magic was reflecting off the Homeworld surface, the murky crystal acting as a mirror. The dull mist of scarlet that swirled about the staff's length faded as the rod was spun through the air, as Krystal brought it to face level to examine it.

All at once, the head of the shaft pointed in one direction and exploded into life, casting brilliant spokes of red light around it that flickered against the ground and rose into space. Krystal started.

All at once, Fox remembered where he had seen that glow. The staff released a magical flare whenever it drew near a source of magic. It had done so on Sauria, and it was doing the same here.

Fox's brows knitted as he watched Krystal, her fur rippling as what almost seemed to be a ghostly wind whipped around her. The vixen turned back to him, her face reflecting her puzzlement.

Then a blinding sheet of white radiance filled his vision, and he could feel himself fade away.

* * *

When he came to, he found himself sprawled in some dark chamber. Although the ambient lighting was dim and sparse, Fox could see the cavernous space spread in all directions before it faded to black. 

It was then that the vulpine looked up at the roof of this vast space. It was a dull, faded violet that flickered and shimmered with pale light. Fox was instantly reminded of photos of the sea surface from beneath, and he realized then that they were now beneath the surface of the Homeworld.

The vulpine reached beside him, grasping the ground with one paw. It crumbled at his touch, and he knew then it was dry earth.

* * *

Falco's eyes peered out as he awoke, but it was Abbey, whose race was more accustomed to dim lighting, who saw it first- a spring of clear water that seemed to sparkle with a faint light of its own. 

Krystal was already moving forwards, eyes misting over with a glistening film of tears. She had to know. There was only one thing the spring could be.

Her staff head touched the surface of the water, and a ripple had scarcely formed when the spring exploded with azure light.

* * *

The sun was setting upon a war-torn Grall. Fox McCloud stood upon a cliff edge, staring out at the destruction that he and his team had riven upon the land. Deep, ugly gouges of scorched earth had been torn into once-flourishing fields of green. In the distance, he could see the smoking ruins of Grall's proudest military facility, Grall Base One. He felt a pang of regret briefly, before reflecting that, as a mercenary, he was not one to have feelings. Especially while not on the job.

But it had been his compassion for the good people of Grall that had stayed his hand, and compelled him to disobey orders. And he felt content with his choice. Those of Grall were fiercely nationalistic and proud of their heritage, and Fox McCloud could not bring himself to follow orders that would destroy this society.

* * *

The skies above Corneria were a brilliant blue, dotted here and there by pure white clouds that were strewn about like fallen acorns. On the ground below, great shadows crept across the land to provide welcome shade for those on the walk or the skylanes. 

An old hound took in this view from his window, taking a moment to do nothing but stare outside. It would hardly matter- it was clear that his visitor didn't have much else of note to say. General Pepper turned from his spot at the window to face Beltino, harrumphing and straightening his shoulders as he did so.

* * *

Fox was laughing as the customary horde of students surrounded his hovercar. He waved them off, promising to make time to talk to them later. Vanessa and Daniel climbed into his car, waving at their friends as the vulpine started the engine. The hovercar shot upwards to join the others in the skylanes, but not before Daniel and Vanessa took what appeared to have been a hidden bucket of pressurized confetti and heaved its contents overboard, showering those below in a deluge of colored paper and foil.

* * *

The exodus on Venom was not unnoticed on Corneria, where leading officials and news reporters alike wondered how and why Andross was choosing to move his people down below. While there was some civil disorder on Venom, looters and the like, the majority of the evacuation went very smoothly, lines of people boarding transports underground, thick durasteel doors shutting behind them. The undercity was one of Andross's pet projects, and he had terraformed the area extensively, complete with a night and day light cycle. He hadn't thought it would really be necessary for any reason. Now it had a chance to prove its worth.

* * *

"We've just passed into the sensor range of the Bolse II station," he said. "And it looks like there's a lot of movement at Area 6." 

"Leave it alone, Wolf..." said Fox. "Let's keep out of Andross's affairs." His voice was hardening at this, and his eyebrows were furrowed. Everyone could tell that he was still not quite comfortable with the idea of Andross being alive yet again.

* * *

Fox squinted. The dance of light in the sky seemed to be quickening, the shimmering trails glowing brighter as they increased in speed. The ribbon of light twisted and turned in its circle, and it began to take on an ever more sinister quality as its frenzied dance continued. Slippy cleared his throat, the first sound made by the solemn group for several minutes. 

A roiling blue disc of light, a particle shockwave, was spreading now from the point of impact, a scorched depression in the earth where the ground was charred a horrible, deathly black. The disc spread outwards, felling trees and then ripping into the first line of buildings, which fell as if cut by their roots. Onwards the particle shockwave flew. An unlucky badger in the street was ripped to shreds, blood spraying and severed appendages sailing through the air before they too were caught up in the shockwave and destroyed. The city continued to crumble to the ground, destroyed from the heart outwards. Great buildings collapsed and crumbled, vehicles disintegrated into dust as flesh and steel alike were shredded. The Zonessian Starfleet base on the city's outskirts withstood the blast, light washing over it and into the courtyard where it tore apart several undocked scout craft. The base's shields suddenly flared, repulsing the light, and the shockwave's advance halted, the horrible blue light fading briefly, leaving the bloody orange light of burning fires in its wake.

Abbey shouted- Fox only had to look at a rear view to see why. The Cornerian Wolf was stuck, her engines failing to start. Fox didn't hesitate, leaping over the rail of the command post and falling ten feet to the system pit below. He elbowed Falco out of his way and targeted the electromagnetically-reinforced grapplers on the ship's stern, firing them all at once. They slammed into the prow of the carrier and all over her dorsal plating. The lines snapped taut and blue sparks flickered down the lines and the grapnel heads, and the Cornerian Wolf was jerked into the atmosphere as the beach exploded below it. Flying far around the particle beam still streaming to the surface, the Great Fox accelerated to her maximum atmospheric speed and dragged the Cornerian Wolf away. When a crackling voice shouted that the other ship's engines were now started, Fox released the grapnels, which flew behind the ship like a flock of seagulls before they were wound in tightly. Bill's cruiser shot into the Great Fox's hangar with a bang, slamming into the back wall but leaving its occupants unhurt. At a signal from Fox, the Cornerian Wolf and the Great Fox leapt to warp, flashing from the planet's atmosphere and disappearing into hyperspace to leave an apocalyptic mass of flame and flying earth below, the smoky ruins of what once was Zoness's finest city.

* * *

The visions faded, the light drained away. Krystal had fallen to her knees, still clutching her staff in numb paws. The vixen was trembling as Fox knelt down beside her, concerned. 

"I...I saw..." she began, then faltered. She shook her head. She looked back at Fox. "Cernia...t-this is Cernia...it-it can't b-be anything else."

The stunned silence that followed was louder than any battle Fox had ever fought in. It seemed to roar like some primordial beast that drowned out any attempts at conversation with its stifling presence.

A minute passed as Krystal continued to grieve for her family and people. With her staff loose in one paw, the tip began to dangle towards the spring's surface once more.

Fox saw this, and with an angry, protective shout, he took the staff and pulled it away from Krystal. As the rod swept back in his paw, it grazed the water-

* * *

A line of Cernian warriors stretched over the plain, standing tall and proud, no armor or defense adorning their stand. Above them, ships of war fluttered their fins as they circled around, a Cernian sitting at the head of each. These were beautiful ships fashioned of what looked to be an alloy of silver and gold, their cockpits forged of radiant crystal. Bearing a striking resemblance to the Venomian Silverian, they nevertheless had an aura around them the Venomians never had, clearly that of a different age, of an ended time. 

On the other horizon, a line of warriors marched ahead, mounted upon light speeders built for one, in larger, tank-like craft that floated above the ground on a cushion of violet light.

The advancing battle line came to a halt, speeders taking station abreast of the heavier craft. A few moments of silence passed, then the enemy opened fire in a rippling cascade of fire. Laser bolts streaked towards the Cernian lines, but the warriors held their ground and batted the energy bolts away as if they were nothing but leaves.

The barrage increased in ferocity as the fighters of both sides clashed in the skies above, darting and nipping around as they fired at one another. Each time a laser hit a Cernian craft, a barrier of flickering magic would flare up over the silver and gold of their hulls and absorb the blast. The defending fighters spat out scarlet orbs of flickering light that ate into the shields of the enemy.

On the ground below, great, arcing spheres of energy flew from the rear of the Cernian lines to explode in the midst of the attacking army, destroying many with their destructive might.

The laser attack continued to mount until the Cernians were forced to create a barrier of psychic energy which produced great ripples of air when hit, as well as a metallic, gonglike knell which rolled over the field like a clap of melodious thunder.

Somewhere, the piercing crack of a breaking crystal rose above the din of laser fire as a barrier staff was overwhelmed. The shifting energy field began to waver dangerously, and the flow of Cernian fire lessened as other warriors began to move to the front, adding their strength to maintaining the barrier.

With their stores of magic exhausted, Cernian fighters began to peel back from the battle, making for the city to recharge their reservoirs. Deprived now of their air cover, th eCernian lines began to come under aerial attack. Warriors were forced to extend their defensive shield over their heads, causing an ever-mounting drain on their overall strength.

Although laser barrels were now smoking from the heat of firing and many of the tank-craft were falling apart at the seams, the barrage continued, and the Cernian barriers fell.

* * *

The skies were dark, and a great, ugly cloud of indigo filled the skies where the Cernian sun had been. The same laser craft from before had formed another defensive perimeter, on that same hill that the Cernians had stood on. 

Now on the horizon, another army, one made of strange, crystalline beings, moving in one, undulating wave of iridescent purple, the blue eye on each of them throwing a sheen of blue light before them. Among the milling horde of the small, grunt aparoids were the larger forms of mortar, tank, and flying aparoids.

A flurry of movement on the defending side, and a hail of red lasers went soaring towards the aparoids. The battle was opened with the sudden explosions littering the aparoid lines as the smaller beasts were rent apart in a flash of light and a shattering of crystal glass.

Then the aparoids opened attacked, streams of green and black fire spewing from their ranks to land crashing in those of the defenders. Shields flared bright as they attempted to repulse the attack, but within five minutes, it was over. Great black and blue orbs of sparkling energy were flying from aparoid mortars to land with a great detonation and shockwave in the remains of the defending ranks, determined to extinguish any and all life.

In the skies above, the last fighter- a Cernian levicraft- went plummeting to the ground, smoking and trailing flame. The broken craft tumbled into an aparoid mortar and exploded with a colossal gout of flame and magic, but it was the last gasp of a dying Cernia.

* * *

When Fox came to, he was lying on the ground, Krystal anxiously dabbing his forehead with a wet cloth. 

"You okay?" she murmured. Fox groaned and closed his eyes again.

"Been better," he muttered. "I'm not going near that thing again."

"What'd you see-" began the vixen, but Fox was already getting up, addressing Slippy.

"Any way out of here, Slip?" he asked. The toad shrugged.

"Can't see why not. If we can find the core shaft we used to attack the first time, we can remotely call the shuttle or the Arwing down, or we can ask ROB to transport us one."

"Find the core, in all this," replied the vulpine, voice dry. Then he shrugged. "Why not? We don't have much else to do."

* * *

The team sank into alternating patches of gloom, darkness, and dim light, Krystal's staff lighting the way with bursts of fire and light which cut blazing swathes into the darkness for a few brief moments. 

The weaved their way through the maze of crystal spires and structures, passing no remains of Cernia, nor the nation which had taken it for a few, bittersweet years. At long last, a fireball from Krystal's staff exploded against a solid object far larger then anything else they had thusfar seen.

It was the core wall, a tremendous column of cracked crystal and metal. And from gaping holes in its walls, starlight from above illuminated the ground with soft beams of gentle radiance.

The way up was now clear.


	36. Reach for the Stars

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Well, as those copy/paste reviews won't be going away for awhile, I'd just suggest everybody ignore them. Let's try to work something out, hmm? 

Like I said, Lylat is drawing to a close. Red Squirrel Writer, thank you very much for pointing out Cerinia's spelling. However, desperate that I am, I'm simply going to say Lylat, to fit Cerinia's name into its language, added an extra I, and that the Cernian spelling is Cernia. xD

LylatFox, I indeed do like Brian Jacques' works, but they have no real effect here. Thanks for the review!

And finally...be ready for an all-new podcast, Slippy's Workshop! Details on D3.

* * *

**Chapter 33 Reach for the Stars**

* * *

Once a suitable breach in the core wall had been located, close to ground level, Fox was able to ask ROB to transport an Arwing down. With a garbled, "Transport initiated," a white glow began to suffuse the air and a blurred outline began to take shape. The line wavered and flickered. Color began to seep into the picture, fading in slowly from one side to the other. As yellow, cautionary energy bands spun around, the grey of the armor plate and the blue of the G-Diffusers faded in, coloring the white outline and deepening with each passing moment. Then, with a sudden, catastrophic flicker of light, the transport stream collapsed. A heap of loose components crashed to the ground before them. Annoyed and mystified, Fox contacted ROB again. 

"ROB, we've got what amounts to half an Arwing down here. What's the story?"

"Core interference is disrupting transport signals," intoned the AI. "Transport systems nonfunctional."

"Can you clear the interference?" inquired Slippy, joining the conversation.

"Negative. Your da...uplink...breaking up. Loss of signal in...approximately...seconds. Moving...compensate."

With a keening, garbled rush of white noise, the channel broke apart. Fox winced as he rubbed one furred ear before swatting at it with disgust to clear away the ring.

Slippy was already kneeling next to the fragments of Arwing now strewn in a heap upon the ground. Half heartedly, he picked up a component of the G-Diffuser and shook it aimlessly in one paw. "There isn't enough here to make much of anything," he reflected, gloom in his voice. "Might as well try to make a bucket fly."

Falco pulled his head in back from the core shaft, also shaking his head. "No use trying to climb, either, it's all solid crystal."

As Fox opened his maw to reply, a small light began to flicker on his headset. These flashes of light rapidly increased in frequency until the small lamp was giving off a bright, almost solid glare. ROB's voice was crackling back into his ears.

"...shield fragm...disr...transf...possib...comm remod...will clea...li...sta..."

Fox lifted one paw from his ear and thought for a moment, mind racing to decipher the transmission. It was only a few seconds later when his answer came in the form of a distorted, but otherwise clear call.

"Comm modulation complete." A rush of static. "Fragments of the anti-laser shield at the mouth of the core shaft is disrupting the matter transmission system. Opening fire to clear obstruction. Advise you to get clear."

Fox gave a nod as the channel closed once more. "You heard him, move away from the shaft!"

As the six scrambled away from the core wall, a dull thud rolled through the cavernous expanse and faded into the stygian black. Then another, and yet another. A red glow would fill the chamber with each impact of a plasma round, then fade away. The fainter lights of focal lasers only dimly pierced the shaft, and were almost unnoticed by the mercenaries.

The frequency of weapons-fire only increased as the minute dragged by. A white sheen of light was beginning to illuminate the area, light Fox was sure came from the skies and nebula above.

When the lighting in the chamber suddenly flared, Fox was on his paws in an instant, concerned by the flash. He was turning to Slippy, who he knew would be taking scans. There he was, keying in commands for his scanner. The device swept about with beams of varying radiation, drawing in data about the surroundings.

Slippy's diagnosis was unmistakable. He closed the scanner with his voice grim. "The radiation levels in the area are rising," he pronounced, before pointing a paw. "And it's coming from that."

One pudgy finger was pointed directly at the towering core wall.

* * *

The light on Fox's commset was flickering. ROB was barely able to get his message through, that the shield was reforming, before the connection cut entirely. He turned to his team. 

"We need to get away from the core, that's the first thing," he said. Century, his own scanner out, hastened to disagree.

"Fox, radiation levels are rising. This is long-lasting stuff. We leave now, we aren't coming back."

"Apparently," replied the vulpine, turning to Abbey. "How much?"

"Time?" said Abbey. "Twenty minutes, tops. Fifteen for Slippy. Any more will be fatal for the lot of us."

"No Arwings," said Fox. "Walking and climbing are absolutely out. Anything more you can give us, Slip?

"No, Fox," said Slippy, shaking his head. "All we know is the shield's activated. We can't climb up or down in the core because of that same radiation, ignoring the fact that we can't do that anyway."

* * *

In his mind's eye, Slippy was back in the cockpit of his old Arwing, flying above the jostling pack of mercenaries below. The core wall was whipping by now at fantastic speeds, and laser fire intermittently streaking from the lead fighters, Fox and Wolf, were tearing apart all opposition in their path. 

"I wonder what's up there?" Sudden remembrance surged in the toad's mind as he turned to Fox. "There's a branch off of the main core! It might lead to a way out!"

* * *

"You said it yourself, Slip," put in Century. "We can't fly." 

"You can't," said Abbey, turning on her rudder, "but Falco can."

"I don't know, Abbey," replied the avian, voice slow as he thought this over. "I haven't flown for a good while, and even if I could, I'm rather slower than a speeding Arwing. In any case, we don't know where we are in relation to it, and we only have three minutes anyhow."

Peppy was turning as he heard running footpaws. His ears shot up with alarm, his eyes widening. "Krystal, get back here!"

"Maybe you lot can't fly," shot back the running vixen, "but I can, and I can protect myself as well!" Fox made a move, but Krystal was already leaping into the shaft, and she swung herself over the staff as if on a motorbike. She dropped out of sight for a moment, then surged up as the bottom of her staff ignited with blue and white flame.

* * *

Fox did not realize that he was standing upon the lip of the core, watching Krystal ascend, until Falco pulled him back and Abbey decided to shout in his face. 

"What are you doing? We've got three minutes of exposure time- get moving!"

* * *

The shields around Krystal were flaring bright, erupting with brilliant ovular flashes of radiance as she collided with deadly particles of radiation. Linked to her staff, she winced at each frequent impact, her telepathic link to her staff constantly warning her of the ever-dropping energy levels of the rod's reserves.

She roared around a bend and continued upwards, but with nothing to see and the shield looming ahead, she reversed course and flung herself downwards.

Like a heaven-thrown thunderbolt of sapphire, she streaked downwards, the core wall whipping by at fantastic, ever-increasing speeds. All at once, the path forked into two, and pulling up sharply, the vixen changed her course and soared up into the ascending path.

She emerged into what might have been a museum had it not been for the walls of faintly pulsating crystal. It was a cavernous chamber that stretched for miles, its floor almost invisible under the mass of ships that covered it.

Krystal saw everything, from battleships to fighters, Venomian Fleas to Cornerian Lerowings. All of them were powered down and clearly inoperable.

The staff below her trembled and shook as her footpaws touched ground. Deactivating the lift, the vixen ran her mind through her staff's remaining energy levels, which were down to fifty percent. Krystal then took a red gem from a side pocket and fitted it into the staff. The crystal dissolved, and it was with great relief that she saw the azure staff head glow with a revitalized light.

She was about to set off in one direction when she saw something across the shaft, something that gave her great heart. It was polished to an almost blinding radiance, the mean light afforded by the crystal walls dancing upon its surface, reflecting and twirling on the ground and other ships as if cast from a strobe light.

The vessel was a Cernian levicraft, the Heavenwind. The last model before Cernia was taken, the last defense Krystal had seen of her homeworld as her shuttle blasted into space.

She sank to her knees suddenly, vision swimming. All at once, she remembered the radiation. Her mind raced. She could fly across the shaft, but it would cost her valuable staff power. Raising her shields would do the same thing.

Krystal squared her shoulders. She had but one option. Staggering upright and leaning heavily upon her staff, the vixen strode off at what was almost a brisk pace around the shaft mouth. The edge would dance perilously near to her footpaws as she felt a surge of lightheadedness take her, almost sweeping her paws from under her and sending her to the ground. The air seemed fuzzy, blurred, and indistinct. The levicraft was a mile away, too far for her numbed and aching limbs to carry her to.

And then she was there, one paw touching the cool silver and gold of the hull. A surge of strength wiped her vision clean, and it was with renewed vigor that she jammed her staff into a small port and gave it a half turn, opening the canopy with a smooth, almost inaudible hiss of hydraulics.

The vixen swung herself in, collapsing her staff to carrying length and jamming it end first into a port on her right-hand side. A hard twist of a dial pulled the canopy shut above her. Praying under her breath, Krystal then grasped her staff and gave it a quarter turn.

Life surged into the panels before her, a turning, three-dimensional model of her fighter lighting up on a main screen. Gauges depicting shield strength, weapons reserves, life support, and engines shot on, lighting up to various degrees, and a larger panel began to feed in sensor data.

Krystal put her paws upon the two flight yolks before her, and feeling the Heavenwind's computer regain awareness, she reached out with her mind and sent power flooding into the engines. Magical sparks sprayed about and flickered, casting a blue aura through the dim hangar. Krystal pushed harder.

The engine ignited with a great, fiery roar that rolled through the core shaft and the hangar like thunder, a sphere of arcane energy hurling the Heavenwind into the air. Throttling down briefly with a flick of her thoughts, Krystal pointed the ship back towards the core shaft, and with one more thought, shot it forwards at speeds Falco would kill to achieve.

Her ship spun and twirled through the air as Krystal soared through the network of tunnels, turning onto the main core before surging up for the surface.

Although there were no ships that could possibly carry the team out through the shields, nor be used as a breaking ram to break that barrier, the Heavenwind was still something at the least.

A flicker of movement caught the vixen's eye, and she was about to turn her head towards it when something slammed into her craft with frightening force, slamming the Heavenwind back and throwing it close to one wall. Rolling smartly to return to the shaft center, and hearing the sparks of her shields reforming, Krystal gave a nervous swallow, looking down at her control screens for an instant, away from her viewpane.

The main screen now showed a large, flashing patch on her starboard side where she'd been hit. Superimposed over it were a spattering of red dots- enemy consciousness, hostile in intent. But who where they?

Krystal threw the Heavenwind into full reverse as one of the dots surged forwards. A horrible, twisted face of pulsating crystal flashed before her startled eyes, then disappeared behind her and to her left. Another one surged up, and this time, Krystal saw it- a figure within a ship, its mind hopelessly corrupted, its identity shattered beyond recognition.

The ships around her were Mark I Arwings, of that she was sure. But she had no time to feel loss for the pilots, and the one who ventured into her crosshairs, its frame highlighted upon her main screen, was ripped apart by bright orbs of flaming red that erupted from the maw of her ship.

Up they wient in a deadly dance, the one Cernian Heavenwind against the five Mark I Arwings. The lasers fired by the latter glowed an evil, sickening green, and tendrils of light flared outwards from where they hit the core wall, the light following the edges of cells before winking out.

A small voice in the back of her mind was telling her that her staff was running low on power, that something had to be done. Krystal thought about this for a moment, her brain sparking with an idea, but even before she could think further, a bright, crackling pillar of three strands of blue lightning ripped from one side of her ship and rammed into a Mark I Arwing. Energy flooded back into her staff, and the Arwing, exhausted now of all power and life, fell back into the depths.

Krystal watched in shock, awe, and fear as her ship continued to lance out, draining energy from each of the pursuing craft.

A whining chirp drew her attention to her energy gauges, all of which were glowing brightly. A display on her computer was dancing about before her eyes, its image shifting so rapidly that she could not bring her eyes to focus upon it. The shape began to settle into a set of interlocking circles, which began to flare and spin around. On the screen, the energy shield blocking the shaft egress was being traced by what looked to be like five targeting reticules, each flicking about as of its own accord.

Lines of data flowed out before her, and Krystal felt a thought rise, unbidden, to the forefront of her mind- the desire to get her teammates out safely, through the shield. Each of the five reticules on her screen blinked into a steady red color, A loud, penetrating hum began to fill her cockpit, and realizing what her ship was going to do, the vixen shielded her eyes, throwing up her arms as the fearsome scene began to unfold before her.

Spores of magic were rippling up to the prow of her craft, a disc of golden mist forming around the nose and swirling with ever increasing speed. The blue and indigo half-dome of the forward shields flared brightly, just behind the swirling golden light.

Five lances of golden energy exploded from the disc, rippling shafts of magic with a spherical head and long trail behind it, these being encircled by numerous rings which spun at fantastic speeds.

The first of the five golden orbs crashed into the aparoid shield, and the defensive barrier broke like glass, shattering into pieces and leaving a gaping hole in its length. The second round hit, followed by the other three. The entire shield grid was exploding now, roaring with gouts of flame and broken crystal.

Trembling, Krystal winced as shards of the destroyed barrier bounced off her ship. Throwing both control bars forward, she put the Heavenwind into a full climb, the cockpit roaring and shuddering around her as she was borne upon the fiery wings of destruction her ship had caused.

Seconds passed as she cleared the broken and blackened ring of the shield grid, easily outstripping the flying debris that was raining down upon the surface. To her right, she could see a fragment of a wing- doubtless, that of the Great Fox. A few broken hulls of Wildfire-class cruisers were strewn about as well, these corpses dark and silent. Her eyes searched the horizon until her ship, sensing her will, highlighted with a circle her shuttle, off on the horizon.

Krystal dove towards it, the thin air screeching and howling as she tore through it like an arrow from a bow.

* * *

Everything was coming apart below the Homeworld surface. Radiation levels were dropping as the core powered down, but as great cracks were radiating out in the ceiling above and large chunks of core wall were breaking away to explode in a cloud of shrapnel below, this small benefit was lost to the winds. 

Fox gave a great shout as one of the giant, crystalline support pillars cracked to pieces and began to collapse in on itself, drawing the Homeworld crust down with it. Star Fox scrambled out of the way as the behemoth structure crashed down about a mile away, throwing deadly shards of indigo into the air like a thousand knives.

With the interference breaking up, Century decided it was time to call for help. Shouting into a closely-held commset, he yelled, "Krystal, we could use some help down here!"

* * *

"Krystal, we could use some help down here!" The call echoed in the vixen's mind as she continued her dive, the shuttle before her drawing ever nearer as the wind whistled by her, a low moaning sound which well suited the drama unfolding below her. 

Cernia was finally dying. She was the cause. Yet as the last of the aparoid hive mind was breaking apart, throwing its last efforts into maintaining the homeworld, she could feel the cries of gratitude and the waves of peace that suddenly emenated from thousands upon thousands of liberated souls, those who had escaped destruction at the hands of Fox McCloud.

The shuttle door was opening before her as she leapt from her cockpit, twisting her staff as she did. Power faded from the ship, and the Heavenwind settled to the ground even as Krystal was leaping into her shuttle. At her touch, the ship, powered by its own crystal core, rose into the air and streaked off towards the core shaft.

Vertigo gripped her by the gut as the shuttle turned its nose down into a full dive, the hull beginning to shake and shudder violently as the craft accquired more and more speed, almost more then it could handle.

A hull stress gauge was rising, suddenly breaking the monotonous shrieking of the wind with a loud, piercing wail that rolled around the small enclosure hurtling downwards like the voices of the damned.

* * *

Paw pressed to his headset, Fox was nodding his head in time to an unheard cadence coming in, apparently, from ROB. The others watched as the vulpine continued his rhythmic movements, a spot of order in this pit of chaos. He looked up. 

"Krystal's coming this way!" he called over the continuing din. "Everyone, get ready to move!"

"Aren't we already?" shot back Falco, even as he moved back towards the ruined core shaft.

At that instant, a fireball of blue flame erupted from a breach, almost, but not quite clearing the edges. With a terrific crash, Krystal's shuttle forced a breach in the remains of the core wall and flew on, trailing debris behind it. The craft descended until it hit the ground, the hatch already flying open.

One by one, the team piled into the shuttle. Krystal looked back only to shout, "Hold on!" before she threw power into the engines and flung the ship forwards at terrific speeds.

Fox slammed back into his seat, his words never leaving his maw.

Explosions of flame, magic, and broken crystal were littering the core shaft with great clouds of falling debris. Each member of Star Fox now had their eyes fixed on the confident blue vixen who held all of their lives in her paw.

The shuttle raced onwards, shuddering with impact it took from the waterfall of broken crystal. A tidal wave of red fire biuvaced around the ship, filling the cabin with an angry glow of red. An avalanche of crystal roared down upon them, forcing the shuttle down, arresting its ascend.

Krystal bared her fangs and pushed the ship harder. The little craft shuddered and whined, then bucked sharply as its prow cleared the debris, ramming its way. At long last, the ring indicating the remains of the shield projector came into view, a wrecked, broken, and wretched thing that would no longer bar access to the world of the living for the disturbed dead.

Below the shuttle, great fissures in the crstalline surface were opening up, and geysers of debris were discharging their deadly contents in a great cloud of whirling matter. Krystal was about to bring the ship out of the atmosphere when a sharp reflection caught her eye on the surface below.

A lump knotted tightly in her throat. It was the Heavenwind, the faithful little ship that had brought her to this moment, the last testament to the fine shipwrights of Cernia, the final artifact of a bygone age, one that had passed all too soon.

Ahead of her was the Great Fox, a shining beacon hope for the many. Below her was the Heavenwind, a monument for the valiant long gone. Sweat beaded on her forehead as her shuttle began to slow.

Fox sensed the anguish and longing battling within the cerulean vulpine before ihm. He reached out a paw. "Krystal..." he breathed.

He stopped as she whirled around, eyes now burning with a desperate flame. "Fox!" she snapped, voice firm with the tone of one whose course was set. "Take the controls! Think of how fast you want to go and the ship will do it!"

Krystal spun from her chair, and in one fluid movement, grabbed her staff and opened the hatch, letting herself be sucked out into the void. She splayed herself to arrest her fall as she wrenched her staff into a flying position, and the weapon flared with a spectral light as the vixen rocketed to the rapidly disintegrating planet.

* * *

Century was able to haul the hatch shut as Fox hesitantly grasped th controls, turning the ship back instead towards Krystal and pushing the battered shuttle forwards. Only when an alarm within his mind informed him that power was low did he grudgingly turn, a thundercloud swirling between his ears as he brought the shuttle about and made for the hangar. 

Peppy was already taking the liberty of telling ROB to prep the Krystal Fire for launch as the dreadnought hove into view.

* * *

Like flak, the remains of aparoid crystal shooting up to meet her were denying her a safe way to return to the surface. Yet at this point, the vixen couuld care less. Krystal put herself into a complete fall, trusting her staff to get her through this once more.Debris ricocheted off her shields as she continued her descent for the last time, pulling up with a force that caused her vision to swim and nearly dislocated her shoulder. Shaken, but not detered, Krystal pushed her staff ever faster until the Heavenwind came into her sights. 

Leaping from the staff and turning it sideways to act as an airbrake, the vixen was vaulting into the cockpit even as her footpaws touched brittle crystal, and as the rod collapsed itself, the ship was powering up, engines throbbing with life and weapons coming online. Screens and gauges flickered to life as magic surged into them. The levicraft reared and leapt for the skies, but just as it began to clear the ground, a piece of rubble, silver in color, crashed into her canopy and cracked it.

Unknowing, Krystal threw the ship forwards, blasting it upwards like a rocket. Only as the atmosphere began to thin did she realize, via the hiss of escaping air, that she was losing oxygen and couldn't leave the atmosphere.

Yet she had no other choice. Looking down below her, Krystal could see the Homeworld destroying itself, its structure collapsing in upon the body of Cernia that had sustained it. The atmosphere would blow apart as the Homeworld shattered. She had no choice but to try for space.

Staying as high as there was breathable air, Krystal pushed her ship to its limits, seeking the sleek, grey form of the Great Fox. It came over the horizon within a minute, as well as a much smaller form that could only be an oncoming Arwing.

Krystal pulled back on her flight yolks, angling her ship towards the heavens. The hiss of rushing air resumed once more, sucking the vitality from her lungs with impossible speed. Almost within seconds, Krystal could feel herself getting dizzy, lightheadedness distorting her senses as she struggled to stay awake.

She could distantly feel the thud of a grappler, feel the jerk of acceleration. Then, despite the dull thunder of the Homeworld's death throes beneath her, darkness took her for its own.


	37. Lithomania

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: I know I've been saying this a lot, but this is one of the last chapters of Lylat! It is the penultimate (second-last) chapter! And with that...I present to you, chapter thirty-four of Black Skies- Lithomania! 

...for anyone who abhors Latin, it means rock crazy, literally.

* * *

**Chapter 34 Lithomania

* * *

**Staying angry had been easy for some time, and had been as natural as breathing. But now, watching the flickering line of a medical monitor jump and beep with ever-increasing regularity, Fox found himself unable to harbor fury for Krystal- that anger had been born of fear and indecision, dislike for situation he'd been put in. 

On the cot, Krystal gave a weak stir- Fox was there almost immediately, coaxing her back down when she tried in vain to push herself into a sitting position. She lay then, content, staring at the ceiling and watching it come slowly into focus.

* * *

Abbey turned around in her seat, paws straying from the controls as they were raised at Slippy. "Would you cut that out?" she demanded. "It's getting on my nerves!" 

"Hey, hey!" replied the toad, voice indignant. "I'm working here!" Slippy turned back to his console, returning to pressing keys and drawing up maps. A few more minutes passed, until the console let out a loud, piercing, whining chirrup. Abbey exploded, this being the last straw.

"Alright, that's it! Get off the bridge, now!"

"You've got your consoles in Main Engineering," advised Falco as Slippy stalked towards the lift. "Maybe you can do your thing there?"

"Thanks," muttered Slippy, before he jammed the call button with his thumb and stepped into the open car.

* * *

"It was a close call," admitted Fox. "Your ship depressurized and you were without oxygen for about a minute and a half. Your core temperature fell about six degrees, and there were a few other things that began to come up. We spent the last few hours reviving you." 

Krystal blinked tiredly. "Thank you, though," she whispered, before her eyes closed and she slipped back into darkness. She was asleep.

Fox's eyes strayed to a medical terminal, eyes following the lines of her heartbeat, blood pressure, and metabolism. All were stable.

* * *

Fox was leaving the sickbay as Slippy came by, with what amounted to a thunderstorm above his head. Seeing the vulpine, Slippy slowed and turned on his heel. 

"How's Krystal?" he asked, eyes darting to the closing door. Fox gave a slow nod and a shrug.

"She's recovering. She just needs rest."

"Good to hear," affirmed the toad. "Well, I'll be in Engineering if you need me," he finished, and with that, he set off back towards Engineering. Fox gave another, tiny shrug, then began his way back to the bridge.

* * *

Main Engineering was awash with the beautiful, azure hue cast by the towering antimatter power core, the beating heart of the ship. Lit from within by the swirling of matter and antimatter, lit occasionally by the flash of mutual annihilation, the core powered almost every function on the ship, supplemented by the ten fusion and fission auxiliary power cores situated throughout the ship. 

Keys emitted soft tones as they were depressed by able paws, computer diagnostics scrolling off across the screen at high speeds as diagram after diagram, scenario after scenario played out on the screen in colored lines flying across the screen.

Scrolling data rolled on in a relentless march, straining Slippy's eyes as he watched, face illuminated by an azure glow. Every few seconds, a bar would sweep across the screen to refresh the data there, telemetry updating with each meter traveled and other information changing by the minute.

As his numbed brain took in the facts on the screen before him, his mind was wandering elsewhere. Numbers and video captures of previous battles and missions. The strength of the lasers, their powerful engines and lightning maneuvering.

As his mind continued to wander, a single word ran through his mind in a monotonous mantra. Energy...energy...energy.

The answer came to him in a lightning flash of images, sounds, thoughts, and memories.

* * *

_Fox, taking up Krystal's staff for the first time, blue lightning running down its length._

_Krystal's telepathic abilities, scouring Meteos for signs of life._

_Krazoa spirits roared from orbit around a crystal and crashed into the stone head of the Krazoa god._

_Energy. It all came down to energy. Figures from technical reports on generators and power cores, none of which could provide the aparoids with the energy they had needed to sustain their own civilization, much less invade others._

_General Pepper was giving him a briefing on the situation, talking in great detail about the SpellStones. Wondrous artifacts, he'd called them, preventing the energy of the planet's core from ripping it apart._

* * *

Only magic could sustain the aparoids. That was their reason for invading Lylat. It was never about Corneria, never about Fortuna. All along, it was about Sauria. 

He reached for his terminal and keyed in a sequence. The ship flew into alert status, cautionary read headings swirling at the top of every screen. Force fields rose around the antimatter core, and the shim began to hum as the auxiliary reactors threw themselves into high gear.

* * *

"What's the story, Slippy?" asked Fox as Slippy stormed onto the bridge, illuminated and colored a wan shade of orange green by the harsh, flashing red of the emergency lights, affixed to the ceiling at regular intervals. Slippy tossed a key code into the situation projector, and brought up a map of the Lylat System. 

"The whole thing was about Sauria. It was always about Sauria," replied Slippy, pointing at the planet in question, the map focusing upon it and expanding the image to fill the projection.

"What? The whole what?" demanded Century, stepping forward to look at the map.

"The Aparoid War, dimwit!" shot back the toad, voice rising. "The only possible source of energy that is large enough to fuel the aparoid machine is that of magic. Cernia had it. So does Sauria."

"You're saying..." whispered Abbey into the horrified silence, voice trailing off as her tone cracked and wavered, fear now thick in her expression.

"They didn't go to Sauria to kill a bunch of dinosaurs," replied Slippy, voice flat. "I've reviewed the data we got from Pigma's core memory. It turns out that there are three strains of aparoids, each attuned to a different magic source. Eliminate the source, and the aparoids dependant on that strain will die off. It also seems," added the toad, voice hardening, "that there is a queen for each of the three strains. One's genetic code has degraded so far, I suspect it has already died out. The second strain was destroyed by us. The third must have been planted on Sauria. I think they knew we would defeat them." He took a breath, preparing to deliver the worst news he had yet.

"I think the entire Homeworld Battle...the Aparoid Invasion...was a decoy."

* * *

"How fast, Abbey?" demanded Fox, pacing back and forth near his command chair. Without looking up, the otter gave him the answer. 

"Stream factor seven. We try to go faster, we'll explode."

"We'll make it, Fox," assured Peppy, crossing over to Krystal's still-deserted comm station. "I'm sending a call to James and Pigma right now."

As the elderly hare donned the headset, Fox remembered Krystal. His ears drooped as he realized that someone had to break the news. Excusing himself, the vulpine left the bridge.

By the time he returned, with a rather determined vixen in tow, Venom was looming large on the sensors. Fox lost himself in thought for a moment, watching the planet draw closer and closer. He looked over at Krystal and gave a tiny nod. The cerulean vixen knew immediately what Fox wanted, and after helping Peppy from her chair, she sat down and opened an audio channel.

Venom flashed by, a blur of wavering green and clearing yellow. Krystal looked up at the same time that Slippy did.

"I'm detecting ships on the surface moving about- some are readying to go to warp!"

"I got through to Andross," said Krystal, looking at Fox. "He's agreed to help us. The Third Patrol Squadron is out for maintenance, but someone you know will be joining us soon. Andross has battleships on the way."

"Reassuring," remarked the vulpine. His face then turned into a frown. "Who?"

"Buckley O'Reilly."

* * *

At that moment, the tiger was prepping his Silverian for launch, moving with only the slightest traces of discomfort. He gave a thumbs-up to the mechanic outside his sealed cockpit- soundlessly, the otter nodded, gave him the same gesture, and moved off. 

The Silverian roared from the mouth of the escort carrier Falchion, circling around to a trench of sorts in the ship's hull. The Falchion aligned itself with the Great Fox's warp stream.

Buckley checked his restraints and settled himself, drumming his paws nervously upon the armrests of his seat. He fought to keep unsteady breathing under control, a drop of sweat beading upon his forehead. A technician had told him that the Great Fox was traveling at stream factor seven, and there was only one way to attain that velocity in his fighter.

As a precaution, the tiger flicked a switch he had never touched, controlling the inertial dampeners. His paws moved to his controls as a voice crackled to life over his comm.

"Patrol One, you are ready for warp stream injection. Standing by in t-minus ten..."

"...nine..."

"...eight..."

"...seven..."

"...six..."

"...five..."

"...four, catapult initialization..."

"...two..."

"...one..." Buckley braced himself, sucking in his breath and offering a prayer.

"...zero!" Rippling green tractor beams latched onto the sides of his repaired fighter suddenly flung him forwards. A second set grabbed him- then a third, a fourth, and finally a fifth.

The Falchion blurred out of sight behind him as he fell into a blue-spinning tunnel of light and color. And in the distance, he could just make out the Great Fox.

* * *

"Warp stream entry," intoned ROB looking up from a secondary systems console. "Identification tentatively listed as a Silverian-type fighter." 

"That'll be Buckley," said Fox, giving a nod. He turned to Abbey. "Slow to stream factor four and open the aft launch bay doors."

"Slowing to factor four," answered Abbey, drawing the warp regulator down until it rested at the indicator for the fourth stream factor."

* * *

The Great Fox was drawing near as Buckley's fighter continued forwards at stream factor six. With each passing second, his speed dripped lower, but the Great Fox always slowed to accommodate. 

The launch bay was now yawning open before him when his Silverian shuddered and his computer announced his stream factor had fallen to four.

* * *

Noticing this, Slippy rapped in a key sequence and turned to Abbey. "Drop our speed by three stream factors." 

"Right then..." muttered the otter. A loud, draining hum filled the bridge as power drained from the warp drive. There were some seconds of silence then, before the entire ship shuddered slightly. Slippy looked down at his console.

"We've got him," he announced. Peppy reached up to scratch one ear, turning back to the situation map.

"We're about a quarter of the way there. We'll arrive within about fifteen minutes."

Fox stood up at this, a list compiling itself in his head of what needed to be done. Like lasers from an attacking Arwing, orders flew from his maw at lightning speeds.

"Abbey, arm the weapons and raise shields to full. Polarize the hull plating and put the ship on full alert. Slippy, Falco, get down to the hangar and start prepping the Arwings. Temper the armor again if you have to. Century, ready the Arwing IIIs to be on hot standby. Krystal, Peppy, with me. We need to decide exactly where the aparoids are before we can attack. Come on, people, let's move it!"

Within seconds, the bridge was mostly deserted. Fox looked around for Peppy and Krystal, then gestured for ROB to bring them the last geographical reports of Sauria. The vulpine looked at the surface of the planet, floating serenely before him.

He only wished it could stay that way.

* * *

Sparks went rushing from the tip of Falco's armor tool, spattering down onto the armor of the GaleStorm. The hard durasteel glowed a cheery red before fading back to silver, hardening into an impregnable barrier tougher than the hardest diamonds. Working as a pair, they had soon gotten almost every Arwing prepared and the Jet-Lag besides when Fox came over the ship's comm. 

"We're about to drop out of warp, guys. Falco, Slippy, I hope you guys are done down there. Get the Arwings prepped for launch- we're going to fly a recon run as soon as we drop out of warp. Fox out!"

Slippy looked over at Falco, then at Krystal's untempered Arwing. "Shoot," he groaned, dropping his armor tool in dismay. "Should we tell Fox?"

Falco was staring up at the speakers from which his friend had sent his message. He shook his feathered head slowly, reaching up to ruffle his headfeathers. "No," he answered. "I figure Foxie's got enough on his mind."

* * *

"You'll be joining us, Buckley?" inquired Fox, on a brisk trot down to the launch bay. The tiger gave an absent shrug. 

"Wouldn't be here if I wasn't going to," he drawled, stopping short at a fork in the path. "I'll see you in the air."

"Alright. Be careful out there," warned the vulpine, calling back now over his shoulder. "This isn't exactly running a patrol mission."

"That's for sure." Always one for the last word, Buckley sent this comment off at the top of his lungs before stepping onto a lift and shutting the doors, muting Fox's response- if he'd had one.

* * *

A piercing klaxon was blaring a regular tone every few seconds, signaling the ship's alert status. All over the ship, airtight doors were sliding shut and locking, indication lights changing from two green lamps to one red and one green, the indicator for a battle lockdown. Shield generators hummed with energy as they projected the maximum amount of energy they were rated to handle into the surrounding void. A faint blue haze of intermittently flashing sparks swept over the hull, leaving the durasteel glowing a faint, residual shade of azure. 

Within the ship's hull, an ambient hum grew into a loud, steady drone as electricity flooded into focal laser ports, the director assemblies swiveling about to test for any failures. Magnetic plasma refraction grids snapped on around the streaming plasma cannon cell arrays, projecting their influence beyond the ship so as to attain the desired plasma spread. Interface locks and magnetic containment fields came online, and empty conduits were suddenly filled with blazing plasma, ready at the drop of a hat for the command to fire the main guns.

Plasma sparklers were readied, cylindrical holding canisters filling themselves with a single charge with several others on hot standby. Rows upon rows of ion-detonated mines were arranged neatly beneath the armor, ready to be fired up a long chute and into the battlefield.

The final deployment of the Great Fox's fearsome power came in the form of two sets of rectangular double doors retracting up and down between both sets of wings, just aft of the point-defense turrets. From them extended two pairs of metallic arms, each supporting a large, streamlined shape with one large, imposing engine mounted behind and a sleek, rounded prow at point. These were Polaris missiles, fitted onto the Great Fox at Corneria at a clandestine location. They were warheads of tremendous power, each fully able to defend itself from attack with a smattering of automated, but powerful laser cannons, both two large forward-mounted beasts and arrays of smaller, point-defense guns.

* * *

The lift door opened with a soft whoosh, and Abbey gave a nod to ROB as she stepped onto it. For a moment, she hesitated, looking around the room. Its lights were dimmed, no beast inside to need them. ROB would hold the fate of the ship in his claws for as long as they were out there. 

For a moment, her thoughts flickered back to the Aparoid War. She had been younger then, but she still well remembered the fear the aparoids could strike into the hearts of many. Death had rubbed shoulders with many of the furs in Lylat, but the Aparoids were something else- harbingers of a twisted non-life after death, an unescapable pit of despair and torment at the hands of the one.

She shuddered, then pressed the button for the hangar. As the lift doors slid shut and the car began to move downwards, she spotted the last of the lights flickering out, the bridge now dark but for the glowing red visor of ROB.

* * *

Fox had debated with himself long and hard over the payloads each Arwing would carry with them. There had been no time to appraise Beltino of the situation, and even if he had, there would not be the time for him to retrieve the core memory from its resting place in Corneria Base and reveal its secrets. There would be no easy way out, no self-destruct program. To win this battle, they would have to strike ruthlessly and relentlessly. If even a fragment of the queen escaped, it might live on to bring a new army into Lylat. The being would have to be completely destroyed, or they would die trying. 

Choosing between carrying the heavier Nova bombs and the lighter, but more accurate Smart bombs had been a key point in his thoughts. Eventually, however, he decided on the former. Smart bombs had fallen out of fashion early in the Lylat War, and while the new varieties boasted greater ranges and effectiveness, it was still a new technology, and not at all one Fox fully trusted.

Likewise, he had also considered the fitting of plasma weapons on the Arwings. The queen, he knew, was protected most often with anti-laser reflective and dispersive armor. In the end, however, he decided against it- while lasers drew power only from the ship's power core, plasma weapons, while undoubtedly more effective against armor, would draw their ammunition directly from the Arwing's fuel supply, limiting both their offensive capability and their range.

He looked up when he realized Slippy was calling for his name. Huffing and puffing, the toad ran up to Fox, holding a data pad in one hand.

"It's your dad, Fox! He says they've been over the planet, and they haven't found anything!"

Fox shrugged. "Let's see what we can do, then!"

* * *

Five Arwings and the custom Jet-Lag roared from the underslung main hangar in brilliant flashes of light and a thunderclap that rolled about unheard behind the hangar force field. The five were joined soon then by a lone Silverian which streaked from the rear hangar, pulled a quick roll, then peeled back and into formation. 

"Fox," said Slippy, checking his sensors. "I'm reading a Venomian fleet on sensors. They'll be here within about an hour and a half."

"Sounds about right," said Buckley, nodding his head sagely. "Andross likes his ships prepared for every eventuality, so he'll take his time- less, of course, now- in getting his ships out."

"Fine with me," replied Fox. "Good to know they're coming at all, really." The Arwings continued their lazy orbit around the planet, each ship running detailed scans of the surface underneath.

Falco was the first to spot the three Arwings spinning over the planet's edge. He pressed the button for his comm. "Yo Foxie, looks like pop, Gen, and Pig are here!"

"I can see them now, Falco," replied the vulpine. "Many thanks."

General Pepper, James, and Pigma all coasted past the combined squadron, engines inactive and lights dim. Seconds after, their engines flared brightly, and pulling a Immelman, all three ships landed neatly within the middle of the formation.

"How're you doing, Junior?" asked Pigma, stretching his pudgy arms above his head. Fox gave a nod to that. Pepper extended the same cordial greeting, showing no sign of the emotional drama he'd undergone not long before.

Finally James spoke. "Son," he began, voice strangely awkward. Fox blinked. His father had always been a confident man. Then the older vulpine regained himself.

"Let's kick some tail!"

There were cheers from the group, halted only when Sauria began to come apart beneath them. A huge portion of the surface seemed to heave upwards, spewing debris behind it as it came. Fox could only guess at the tremendous size of each piece, to be visible from orbit. Wrenching itself free from its earthy constraints, the entirety of Dragon Rock was shorn loose from the planet's surface, pulling a colossal mountain of rock beneath it.

In place of the barren, yet habitable surface that had been there seconds ago, a large, twisted inferno of rock and lava, twisted, fiery contrails of molten metals swirling together over this great scab in the earth. Glowing and flickering with an evil light, the gaping aperture seemed now to be a gateway to the eternal hell some cultures believed in.

Fox's eyes narrowed. His brain running fast, a shrewd guess had already formed within his mind. He directed his comment at Pigma. "Are there any shafts or tunnels leading down in from the surface?" The pig shook his head, still wordless from the horrible scene below them. Abruptly, the squadron was forced to race apart to prevent the mass of Dragon Rock from cannoning into their midst. The planetoid swirled out for some time longer, before it was arrested by Sauria's gravity and held in place.

"So the Queen must have gotten in while she was very small," guessed Fox, "while she could have still used the warp pads. Therefore, I see only one way in." There was silence. James, Peppy, and Pepper knew immediately what Fox was planning, but it was several seconds more before Falco, blanching, gave a cry.

"You aren't thinking of going into that mess, are ya, Foxie?"

"Actually, that's exactly what I intend to do," replied the vulpine. His paws tensed over his controls. "After me!" he called, rolling his Arwing sideways and sending it into a plunging dive.

Without a word, the rest of the squadron fell in behind him, flying side by side and vying with one another to enter the molten, hideous hellhole that could be their final resting place.


	38. Fires of Hope

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: And after a long while, we've arrived here at the final chapter for Book I: Lylat. Thank you to everyone who left a review for Black Skies so far! 

Quick note- this chapter can be well read to this music (Aces High): http // youtube . com / watch?vPQociBLRfds

From here, we move into Book II: Eloria, where we will follow the story of Star Wolf, and Star Wolf alone, on their foray into Grall. If anyone has ideas for this section of the book, please let me know. And with that...here's Raphael, signing off Lylat for the last time!

* * *

**Chapter 35 Fires of Hope

* * *

**The Cerulean Blue trembled as its prow pierced a Gatekeeper's Forcefield, shimmering waves of blue sparks running down the Arwing's length. The forcefield remained in place, flickering slightly where the squadron had passed through it. 

The group was passing close now into the atmosphere, the first and second incarnations of the elite Star Fox team, a wing commander of Venom, and a general of Corneria. Such a group had never been seen before in Lylat.

Nor had a war of this scale. Krystal felt a tiny pang of regret twinge her nerves. The Time Spring had been a huge opportunity for her. Touching it with the staff would allow a person a brief view of the future or the past, but touching it, the point where the fabric of space and time converged, would have taken her to another era, perhaps even the one where her home was still full, vibrant, and coursing with vitality.

But she was here, now, and she focused with ever-stronger resolve on the situation at hand as flames, a violent red-orange in color, began to lick up from the nose of her ship.

* * *

Buckley O'Reilly's streamlined Silverian was outstripping the other ships in their bid for the surface until a determined Century Shorehm ignited his boosters to hurl the Jet-Lag forwards.

* * *

Fox stared through the sheet of rippling flame coursing just above him, deflected only by a thin layer of glass and the glow of his shields. Ahead, he could see the ionized sphere of plasma driving the Silverian, and the long, trailing streams that were falling back from Century's boosters, a twisting, rippling ribbon of blue that whipped by his cockpit and vanished behind them. 

Fox's eyebrows knitted. His paws deftly manipulated a series of levers, switches, and controls to send power roaring into his engines, the white plasma ion stream widening and gathering intensity until even through the flame curtains shrouding the view of those behind him, it was brighter than Solar and painful to the eyes.

At last, the flames of reentry died away, leaving trails of dark, ugly smoke streaming from the wingtips of each ship.

Below them was the hellish scab of Sauria, rivers of magma coursing through huge canyons and chasms so deep, the bottom could not be seen but for the glow of lava.

Walls of jagged rock whipped by the cockpit as Fox navigated a canyon, a river of lava promising a fiery death should he hit the rock face. Before him, the walls of the canyon suddenly diverged, a tremendous expanse of nothingness opening up before him.

The lava river plunged in a dramatic, cascading waterfall of molten metal, the planet's lifeblood coursing down into the abyss in a glowing thread of fire that disappeared into a darkness that swallowed it completely.

Fox pushed forwards on both control rods, plunging his nose downwards. The horizon teetered in his viewpane, then rushed upwards and was lost to sight.

Spinning in a loose barrel roll, each of the ten fighter craft plunged downwards into the darkness.

* * *

As the makeshift squadron faded from view, the space around Sauria was filled with flashing, explosive stars as almost a hundred warp streams were collapsed to facilitate reentry of their occupants into normal space. 

On one side, the fading, azure remains of decaying warp streams were spewing forth Cornerian battleships and cruisers, destroyers and carriers. Drifting into formation, the Cornerian fleet hovered above the surface to await orders.

On the other side, a tremendous series of starbursts signaled the arrival of the Venomian fleet, red explosions fading away to leave the might of the Venomian First Fleet in plain view. While the Cornerian fleet hovered, unsure of what to do, their Venomian counterparts had no such qualms, and fighters streamed from their launch bays in swarms of silver, lit from behind by a sphere of azure plasma ions. These banked in sharply and swung towards the depression in Sauria's surface, avoiding Dragon Rock on their way.

Arwings and Lerowings rushed from Cornerian ships, many breaking down towards the planet as ordered- but some changing course for Venomian lines.

* * *

Andross, aboard the bridge of his ship, the Omen Bird, watched the situation unfold with a practiced eye. Using fingers on both paws, he deftly dragged squadrons of fighters to various locations, leaving most to continue towards the planet's surface, and ordering the others to form a defensive screen.

* * *

The CSS Halcyon, commanded by Fleet Admiral Gevan, was awash with near-constant communication relays. Employing extremely low-yield lasers, the Venomian fleet was simply keeping the Cornerians at bay. Sure that this was a ploy that the unknown fleet, doubtless under Andrew, was using, Gevan gave an order that directly countermanded that of Pepper's just minutes before. 

Gun turrets swung slowly towards Venomian lines.

* * *

"M'lord, the Cornerian ships are charging weapons!" called an advisor, watching power levels across the other fleet spike. Andross gave his orders within seconds. 

"Break the fleet. No ship will fire weapons- scatter and continue launching fighters. Move!"

The order was hastily obeyed, the Emperor's fleet breaking apart as ships surged everywhere at high speeds, turning a well-ordered formation into a whirlwind of flashing armor and a melee of confusion.

The first rays of streaming cannon fire lanced into the middle of the fleet, where a ship had been just seconds ago, and passed on, burning white and blue. The Cornerian ships pounced upon the dispersing fleet, confident that this was the greater threat.

The Omen Bird was the most frequently targeted ship, struck repeatedly by Cornerian weapons. As the battle continued to escalate, so did the anger within Andross. And at last, he exploded, a comm line to the Cornerian flagship opening as his iron control broke in rage.

"You are firing on ships of the Venomian First Fleet! Stand down, or we will destroy you, as well as the aparoids!"

* * *

The darkness of the surrounding abyss was expelled at last as the unseen, yet present bottom of the expanse rushed up and then narrowed into a shaft, smaller streams of lava coursing into it from where it had spattered at the end of its fall. The fountain of lava was breaking upon a stout projection of rock near the shaft rim with a fearsome roar, great beads of red and orange spraying into the air, some winking out, others dropping back into the turmoil as it poured down into the tunnel. 

Without hesitation, Fox turned his Arwing into the aperture, the Krystal Fire being followed most closely by James. Father and son entered the shaft side by side, followed by comrades who had stayed with them for decades without question, steadfast and faithful members of Lylat.

The craggy, red-lit walls were shooting by at enormous speeds, a blurred rush of rock and lava. The tendrils of lava that descended into the bowels of Sauria would explode upon contact with various projections from the rock face, forcing the ten fighters to jink and roll in various positions to avoid sustaining damage. Slippy kept a wary eye on his radar, but it was Falco who first voiced his concern.

"We see a dead end, we're screwed. There's got to be a way to find out if it's really a tunnel that goes anywhere.."

"Forget radar," answered Slippy, groaning. "Magical interference is so strong here, it has no chance of giving us anything but what's in front of our noses!"

"We'll just have to play it by our instincts, then," replied Fox. "Just like we always have." This was a lie, and the vulpine knew it- but it was still true that Star Fox relied less on instruments then any other team in Lylat. As such, everyone let the comment stand without question.

Fox, giving warning well in advance, began to slow, the rest of the team following his lead. Abbey turned her head curiously.

"Why did we stop, Fox?" she asked, looking around. She then saw the fork in the tunnel. "Oh."

* * *

"Well, we can't fire lasers to check," said Slippy, some time later. "We could bring the entire area down on our heads." 

"He's right," said Century. "I'd suggest we send someone down and come back if it doesn't end within, oh, ten minutes of cruising."

"Both could be very long, time consuming, dead ends," answered Peppy. He shifted in his seat to look back towards Krystal's Arwing. "Krys, can you sense anything that might help us?"

The vixen ruffled the back of her head uncertainly, words coming from her maw in slow spurts. "I'm not sure...I'm...no! Don't turn left!" she screamed. The others turned wildly about to see who she was referring to, only in time to see a Mark III Arwing plummet down from above, and turn left, where it suddenly exploded in a blizzard of burning metal and plasma.

"It was a trap, it was a trap..." she sobbed, crying in her cockpit. Fox shook his head slowly and sighed. It was General Pepper who first broke the ensuing silence.

"Friends, that pilot was a member of the Cornerian Army, who had probably accepted he would not make it back alive. This was a volunteer mission. He knew the risks."

"We have to press on," said James, voice firm. "I'll use my grappler and collapse the shaft. Then we can move on."

"C'mon, Krys, don't break on us now," cajoled Fox, worry coloring his voice. The vixen sniffed, drew an arm across her eyes, and gave a slow nod.

The burning wreckage of the Arwing was buried by many tons of rock as James's grappler pulled down a stone slab onto it. There was a dull thud, and then silence once more.

Pigma looked up through the roof of his cockpit. "We'd better get going, before we cause a roadblock."

* * *

A tense standoff in the skies above Sauria continued without an end in sight, Andross and Gevan positively glaring at each other through miles of empty space. The silence on the bridge of the Halcyon was broken only when a sensor officer came up to the hound's shoulder and began to speak. 

"Sir, we're getting anomalous readings from the surface," he said. When there was silence, he shifted upon his paws. "Sir?"

"Yes, ensign, I heard you," said the admiral, voice distant. "Can you get a visual?"

"I'll take a crack at it," replied the junior officer, and he moved back to his console and tapped a few keys.

A CloudRunner soared past the screen area, a bolt of blue magic shooting from its open maw. The spinning orb rolled through the air until it struck something, something with a crystalline body that glowed with an unnatural light.

Gevan's breath caught in his throat. Then his eyes hardened. "Recall all ships! Attack the aparoids on the planet surface, now!"

* * *

Andross gave a small sigh of relief as the Cornerians peeled away, rushing to the Saurian atmosphere. His fighters mostly deployed, he gave an order to take the ships to the surface, and his fleet drew into formation once more for a final drive.

* * *

Bill Grey and Fara Phoenix spiraled into formation to join the makeshift squadron of ten, both flying Lerowing Vs at the moment. Bill gave a nod to Fox over the comm. 

"Be needing us?" he queried, voice dripping with sarcasm. Fox smiled, then gave a nod.

"As timely as ever, aren't you? Let's go, Bill!" As he said it, the vulpine glanced into his rear-view monitor, and was struck dumb by what he saw.

The shaft was filled with the brightly-burning engines of what looked like hundreds of Cornerian and Venomian fighters, all jockeying for position to claim a spot near the head of the charge. He shook his head, attempted to speak, failed, and then reached for his boosters and ignited them with an explosion of blue light.

* * *

Rallying his troops upon a craggy mountainside, Prince Tricky threw back his head and gave a thunderous roar, calling out as he did, "Fight, brothers! Let us throw back their clawed paws! Fight to the last!" And lent strength and valor by the role he had assumed, Tricky took in a great breath and expelled a column of violet flame from his maw which ripped into the air, causing the air to shimmer with heat as it passed upwards in a solid, unbroken stream of deadly heat. 

CloudRunners, LightFoot, SharpClaw, HighTops, and EarthWalkers cheered at his words and fought on as destroyed and blackened husks of dead and dying aparoids fell to the ground in impotent piles of ash and debris which broke upon the ground in showers of dust.

Sauria shook and rumbled from Tricky's Mountain down to its core. Rock wrenched itself free from tunnel walls and columns to fall into the infinite abyss below which seemed to stretch without even a hint of an end. Perhaps the Queen was not there after all, and this entire venture had been but a waste of time.

* * *

The lava continued to fall in a winding stream which dropped away into the endless well. At last, however, a dim glow began to suffuse the air around them. Fox was forced to pull up abruptly to avoid slamming into a pool of lava which flowed into an adjoining tunnel.

* * *

An explosion rolled through the side shaft, causing Fox to grit his teeth. Somewhere, behind him, a pilot must have misjudged his control and hit the rock face. But grieving would mean the end of him as well, as the shaft was twisting and turning now with increasing frequency, projections of rock stabbing out into the air. 

At last, the tunnel shot sideways into open space, a huge room filled with a great, pulsating diamond crystal in the room's center, connected to the ceiling and floor by great, textured and raised discs. Smaller pillars spanned the chamber in a grid, many reaching up to connect with the central crystal, the others turning the chamber into a veritable maze of pylons and crystal.

One by one in an unbroken stream, the Cornerian and Venomian forces, Star Fox at their head, flew into the expanse, only to be greeted by a hail of lasers which flew from the gaping maws of a swarm of aparoids banking around a set of pillars, energy bolts breaking apart upon the raised shields of the attackers.

The response to the attack was flawless, smoother than any preplanned routine. Instinct and intuition graced their movements and oiled them to near perfection. The Cornerian wing swept forward their wings into all-range mode, peeling hard to starboard to unleash a murderous hail of blue and white lasers.

The Venomian fighters turned the other way, taking a circuitous approach to rip into the aparoid flanks, milling with loose fighters, with streams of red lasers, a continuous cascade of crimson light.

Crystal shards and steel fragments were exploding everywhere into deadly clouds of debris that whipped through the air, cast to the winds as lasers pelted through the enclosed spaces to strike their targets and rip them into oblivion.

* * *

Pepper banked sharply around a pillar, smiling with grim, cold satisfaction as the furious thunderclap behind him told him that his pursuers had been destroyed. High-yield lasers came streaking across his vision, and the hound fired retro-rockets and threw his ship into a hard climb, rotating his ship on its horizontal axis to come in down upon his attackers. Pearl lasers winged out from his guns like avenging angels, shredding two aparoids- and a Venomian fighter beneath it. 

Unexpectedly, the hardened general felt a pang of regret lance through him, a poignant surge of emotion that momentarily left him stunned and defenseless. Recovering quickly after his shields began to dip, Pepper shook his head, gritted his teeth, and flew on, avoiding aparoids whenever possible to allow his shields to regenerate.

* * *

Pigma's nerves were fraying fast. Although he and James had been sent to do recon into known Grallian hotspots, those had always been intense fights- but in open space. Sweat trickled down his rolled face as structural pylons whipped by at insane speeds, yet the pig knew that slowing down could only mean certain death or assimilation. 

Streaks of red fire slammed into his vision, erupting into an enormous, crimson fireball as the stream of lasers crashed into a crystal pillar, shattering it to pieces. Looking back, Pigma could see it was a Venomian, who had clearly mistaken him for an aparoid.

Deftly shaking the errant pursuer with a barrel roll and a stiff dive, the swine nevertheless found himself running into another screen of viridian death, bolts of infectious and high-yield energy spraying up in what seemed to be almost a continuous screen of blazing light. Blinking to clear his star-filled vision, Pigma banked hard to avoid hitting a crystal pillar. Firing out blindly into the luminous inferno of destructive energy, the swine was rewarded by a flare of light different from that of laser fire- crimson fireballs that blasted outwards in horrendous conflagrations which signaled the passing of a life into the next world. Rounding a pillar, he found himself coming under attack yet again, and taking his chances, Pigma threw his engines at full power and roared through the chamber, dodging and twisting through the maze of crystal, which lit up almost constantly to the flare of lasers, explosions of bombs, and the detonations of Venomian missiles.

* * *

Buckley O'Reilly was a distinguished pilot, a hardened fighter, and an exemplary daredevil. Yet this, only his fifth combat mission in his short life, was proving to be a harrowing glimpse into the full realities of war in all their brutality. All around him, Venomian and Cornerian fighters were exploding, destroyed by pilot error or by the lasers that seeked their tails at all times. He banked left and right, barrel rolling when necessary to prevent enemy fire from raking his stern, and the vulnerable technology within. A blipping tone informed him his computer had achieved a missile lock, and two thin, green-glowing warheads shot out from small bays on either side of his ship, streaking out towards their target and destroying it in a hail of crystal and broken memories. 

All at once, every aparoid in the area seemed to concentrate upon him, inundating the tiger with their numbers. A sudden break in the near-solid barrage caused him to look up.

Above him, the distinct, unmistakable silhouettes of Mark IV Arwings and the predatory, custom-built Jet-Lag passed through the gauntlet of weapons fire, buying him precious moments to analyze his options.

A second later, the beleaguered Silverian shuddered, shields failing in a tremendous burst of light. Rippling lances of crackling azure flew over the craft as projectors failed and burned out, the engines dying as the red glow of G-Slipstreams faded to nothing. There was a great flash and a hollow thud, and then the ship was gone, broken into so many pieces of blackened, charred, and twisted debris which flew in all directions as if from some monstrous fountain.

* * *

Century looked back in time to see the detonation, but unknowing that it was that of Buckley's ship, he merely smiled and moved on, confident that the resourceful feline had utilized the brute force of his ship to escape. 

The Jet-Lag swooped between two closing aparoids, both of which whirled away from each other and swung back around to engage him, pelting his ship with green lasers. The ovular shields surrounding the ship flared, turning the attack. A swift modification to the shield grid caused the barrier to shimmer and turn a hazy color of blue. The following assault on the Jet-Lag was not only turned- it was reflected, lasers spitting back along their original flight path to destroy the pursuing aparoids in great explosion of violet light.

Century whooped and flew on, spinning his ship vertically and moving to intercept another group of aparoids that whirled past his flank, firing at a Cornerian Arwing. The group was decimated by a spray of hyper lasers within seconds.

* * *

James's Ancient Fire was roaring about the cavern like a juggernaut, pursuing almost as many aparoids as were pursuing him. Yet as hard as the enemy behind him strove to bring him down, they could not touch the ace, whose Arwing leapt and darted about as if it had a mind of its own, kicking up its stern and bows, rolling from side to side, and jinking in all directions to avoid being hit, all the while emitting a near-solid stream of weapons-fire in a devastator attack. The shimmering spectra of green, blue, yellow, and white laser rounds was a dazzling spectacle, almost creating a carpet of incandescence brilliance which would let no aparoid pass in one piece.

* * *

Peppy had been the least productive member of Star Fox in kills, having only dropped the occasional aparoid to wander into his sights, but tactically, his views were indispensible. Surveying the battle in a careful loop, the hare began to notice troubling signs, besides that of the appalling losses the allied fighters were sustaining. 

Aparoids seemed to be melting out of the crystal support pillars, and so even while the overall number of them was falling, the regeneration promised to make this battle a long one. It wasn't long before the hare decided to act, and as one, Star Fox swooped through the pillars- not dodging them, but tearing them to pieces with tremendous displays of firepower, lasers breaking one apart with kinetic and thermal energy, Nova bombs simply blasting them apart and shattering them with concussive force. Great swaths of clear space began to appear in the aparoid-infested grid of girders as more and more of the crystalline were destroyed.

At last, the majority of the drones had been sent plummeting to the cavern floor in flames and heaps of ashes. Fox directed the squadron towards another shaft set into the wall, and the remaining ships followed him into the tunnel.

They emerged into a battle-scarred room, lit by a sinisterly glowing crystal, flanked on all sides by crystal supports, many cracked and broken. A network of tunnels pierced the walls, and choosing one at random, Fox pulled through.

As soon as he saw crystal girders in front of him, a swooping, sickening feeling seized his gut, filling him with cold fear which slowed his thoughts and battered at his resolve. The battle damage in this room was the same as the one in the last- and the one before that. Which could only mean one thing- that they as a whole were victims of a deception.

He was looking back, rotating slowly as he hailed Bill when it happened. The air blurred, and something crashed into a milling body of allied fighters. One instant they were there, the next, they were gone, broken hulls falling in complete silence. Some ships had disappeared entirely.

"It's a trap!" roared Bill, bulldog voice booming out over the comm. "Scatter, now!" Panic rippled through the task force like a wave, but even before it could sweep the fleet apart upon its wings of fear, the blurring of air had struck again, snatching several more fighters from their midst.

His sharp eyes lending him aid, Falco Lombardi was able to spot a disturbance tracking him, lunging at him. With one deft movement, the GaleStorm flipped up and away. The shimmering air passed beneath him, and for a split second, Falco saw it. A indistinct, but massive form of purple, silver, blue, and gold, with massive, beady crimson eyes with horrible black pupils spinning about, watching him intently. Then the apparition was gone, and only the wavering wake of the thing could be seen.

Falco glanced down at his scanners, which showed nothing. Something seemed to click within his brain, and reaching for the fleet comm, he yelled, "It's a hologram! It's hiding under a hologram! Shoot, shoot it!"

Lasers pelted in all directions, most missing, others being absorbed by an unseen obstacle which would then turn to destroy fighters upon its whims. Amidst the screaming cries and general chaos, Slippy, in a stroke of unbelievable fortune, flew past the discs connecting the giant crystal to the floor and ceiling. His computer chimed a piercing tone as he passed near it, energy levels spiking to unbelievable heights. Slippy opened his comm channel.

"Those discs are the holographic projectors! Shoot them first!"

Laser fire came crashing down onto the discs in a luminescent cascade, but it had only hammered into the objects for several seconds when the image shimmered and disappeared. Fox, however, was firm in his orders when he realized what was happening.

"All ships, maintain fire! It's a hologram- it may vanish, but that one can't move!"

Nova bombs went blazing out into the air to explode with tremendous force. The entire room shimmered, flickered, and then the monstrous figure of the Third Queen swam into view as the supposed shafts in the cavern walls vanished as if they had never been. The Third Queen, still moving in an indistinct blur, flew through the large crystal standing firm upon smoking supports, and emerged, bursts of violet-crimson light roaring from ports and weapons all over its horrible body and tearing into the remains of the fighter fleet.

Fox gritted his teeth and swung his ship around. The real battle was just beginning. Before him was the stiff, roughly cylindrical form of the Third Queen, its four aft wings likening it to a missile. Rippling beams that looked almost like focal lasers were cutting swathes through the allied fighter cover. Fox swore as one such beam flickered towards a franticly maneuvering pilot, who could not have known that his dodging was reducing his speed, and thus, chances of escape.

The vulpine threw his ship between the lancing beam and its intended target, his onboard computers redirecting his shields to cover his dorsal side. Even as his ventral shielding began to take a beating from some aparoid below, the Krystal Fire seemed to shudder like some rock in water, bearing the assault. Fox turned his ship into the beam, and his shields began to rotate, covering his prow with a protective envelope of sparkling energy.

His entire field of vision was inundated by the purple and orange beam which threatened to rip him apart. From wingtip to wingtip, even the massive breadth of the Arwing IV was not enough to show through the energy beam.

But it was enough to weather it. The purple and orange hue surrounding him in its embrace suddenly sparkled and lit up to a different spectra, white, green, and blue lasers exploding from his Arwing in a huge, rippling wave of firepower. Two Nova bombs winged out of their launchers, the first unable to weather the barrage and exploding. The weapon's detonation frequency harmlessly passed over the Arwing's shields.

Flanked by an entourage of multihued lasers, the second Nova bomb spiraled on in, detonating with vicious force against the Third Queen. The beam receptacle was instantly shattered, and the lance of energy faded within seconds. Fox glanced to his shields even as he peeled off, avoiding another spray of lasers. They were reading at just above sixty percent.

* * *

Slippy's sensors were sweeping all over the Third Queen, even as it wavered and vanished, its holographic skin having regenerated. Two Nova bombs, expertly placed within the foe's flight path detonated, throwing rays of light outwards which battered at the Third Queen. Although the local holographic projectors were not yet taken offline, the empty space pushing through the explosion was indication enough of the enemy's position. 

Slippy flashed by, passing within the influence of the holographic cloak. Below him, he could see the rippling skin of the queen, and opening fire, he pelted it with lasers of all strengths and hues. Explosions rippled upwards for several instants before they were quelled by some unseen force.

* * *

Outside of Slippy's battle with the Third Queen, Abbey and Krystal were looping around each other in a continuous maelstrom of firepower, weapons reaching out to shred pylon after pylon and sending it crumbling to the ground in ashes. With the destruction of each girder, the flying area became clearer and clearer, affording the queen fewer and fewer places to hide. 

A flock of determined Cornerian pilots, following Bill and Fara's lead, were dogging the Third Queen, pounding it in hopes of rupturing its cloak. Gouts of fire were blasting upwards and through the holographic skin from where Slippy continued to dog the massive aparoid, and even though the Queen fired back at its tormentors, the relentless hail of lasers never abated, and not one Cornerian was hit.

* * *

Venomian fighters were breaking back towards the tremendous crystal in the room's center, assailing it again and again. Laser fire would illuminate the gemstone as it refracted within the object, lending the Third Queen more energy to continue its assault. But it was not long before Pigma realized this, and rallying the Venomians, turned them in one, sweeping attack to slam the crystal with volleys of missiles and bombs. 

The concussive force proved too much, and the large stone was blasted to pieces in a tremendous, rippling explosion that cast a visible shockwave which bent and distorted the very air out. Riding the wave, the Venomians continued towards the room's center, were a crackling strand of energy was struggling to maintain cohesion between the ceiling and the floor.

Four Venomian pilots were killed by a desperate attack from the Third Queen, but the rest locked weapons and attacked again, severing the energy strand. Explosions rocked the chamber, and the Queen gave a deafening, screeching cry.

For a moment, James thought it was over, and he adjusted his sunglasses with a cool air of quiet triumph. But then, the holographic skin of the Third Queen disengaged, and it was surrounded instead by a rippling barrier which distorted the air with its effects. Turning, the Third Queen plunged into a solid wall and disappeared.

* * *

Slippy could not believe his eyes- his Arwing was traveling through solid rock. But it was only the work of a moment for his sensors to give him the story, and falling back and free of the Queen's jamming envelope, he sent a call to the allied fleet. 

"The field's interphasic! Hurry up and hit the wall, now, or we'll never catch it!"

There was no time for doubt, no time for second-guessing. The allied fleet followed and plunged into the solid barrier, still shifting in and out of phase from the effect of the Queen's flight. One or two unlucky ships were trapped in the hardening rock face as it came back into phase, their sudden arrest destroying them in blasts which threw flame back into the ruined chamber. The rest of the fleet, drawn by Slippy's beacon, continued on, racing through solid rock to emerge into a chamber almost a hundred times larger than the last.

Fox recognized it instantly- the vaulted ceiling, the shifting lava, and even the set of bridges connected to a towering pillar above a void. Three SpellStones lay dimly, their energy ripped from them by the Aparoid Queen.

One had been unable to survive the loss of energy and lay in pieces upon the ground.

A roaring filled the vulpine's ears, and he charged after the cloaking aparoid, pummeling it with a brilliant barrage of lasers.

The comm line was silent for mere seconds before, with a unified war cry, fighters, Venomian and Cornerian, joined Star Fox in their attack, swooping down and in like avenging angels to rake the Third Queen from head to stern with a hail of weaponry.

Bill and Fara, banking and rolling in a sharp turn came about and fired at once, their Lerowings exploding in a dazzling blast of energy that rippled out and struck the unseen Queen. At last, its holographic projectors failed and it swam back into view.

No weapon marked its skin, but its shields were smoking badly. Giving a cry of rage, the Third Queen threw a powerful shockwave in all directions, trying to shake its attackers in its fury. All fighters turned into the disturbance and weathered it out, emerging without harm from it to open fire again.

The shockwave had been the dispelling of the Third Queen's shields, a desperate gamble to end the battle then and there. Laser rounds pounded into the aparoid armor, many being absorbed and refracted. But where many volleys struck at once, the protective coating was melted away and vaporized, leaving green smoke, the Queen's lifeblood, to trail away from the breaches.

A titanic lance of light shot from a glowing violet disc between the Queen's four eyes and connected it to the SpellStone pillar. The three remaining gems dimmed further, and the tendril of red energy that ran up towards the surface was nearly exhausted by the Queen's draw of energy.

The battle might have been over there, the Queen regaining almost all her strength. Through his entire life, however, Falco Lombardi, usually the least spiritual of his team, would never forget what happened next. General Pepper, who had commanded and watched scores of the bravest furs in Lylat die to protect him, could never put this sight from his mind.

A Cornerian and Venomian fighter together flew into the beam and were destroyed, breaking the connection. Pieces of flaming debris from their flying coffins mixed and intermingled with one another on their path to the ground.

The room was silent. Then, there was a roar of rage and defiance, a howl for revenge.

Bill and Fara, each leading a compliment of twenty fighters, came banking in for an attack run from one side.

General Pepper, the entire remaining force of the Venomian fleet behind him, pulled in for an attack from above.

James and Pigma attacked from below and behind.

Falco and Abbey streaked in from the Third Queen's left flank.

Century and Slippy dove together in a spiraling attack from another side.

Krystal and Fox dove together, straight towards the Third Queen. They looked at each other, knowing what they had to do. Nova bombs poured in a waterfall from their ships, one after the other, each trailing an aura of azure light behind its red-glowing shell. Both ships fired five warheads, each of which tore apart the Queen's front, sweeping aside the pathetic attempts at shielding the aparoid had mustered.

As laser fire, bombs, and missiles poured in on all side, Fox threw a switch, reversing his wingtip polarity. The world spun around him as his Arwing began to roll, shooting past sixty revolutions a minute within seconds. Everything but the Third Queen, directly before him, swam out of focus in a dizzying haze that disoriented him and threatened to sweep him into the darkness.

The Krystal Fire slammed into the Third Queen, right between its four eyes. The Arwing drove through, disappearing into the bowels of the beast in a whirlwind of flying plating and crystal.

Krystal closed her eyes and fired her remaining Nova bombs, three in number, directly into the opening made by her mate.

A second passed, and then another.

The cerulean Cernian pressed a button, and from within the Third Queen, the triad of Nova bombs detonated in harmony, just as Fox, borne upon a spire of azure light from the explosion, tore out the rear end of the aparoid, Arwing trailing smoke and plating, but still in working condition and the pilot untouched.

The Aparoid Queen plowed on for a moment before it was shorn apart from within, disintegrating at once into a storm of particles, broken crystal, and a final, dying cry.

* * *

The remains of hundreds of brave pilots were strewn through the depths of Sauria. Many would never be recovered. Buckley O'Reilly had ejected moments before his Silverian was destroyed, but had not survived. In the air, knowing he could not even hope to make landfall in one piece, he had grabbed ahold of a flying aparoid and forced it down with him. 

Hundreds of others, many of whose names might have never been known but for the later efforts of General Pepper, were strewn far and wide, dead in their quest to protect Lylat. But they had died in peace.

* * *

Krazoa Spirits rushed from nowhere, whispering air marking their paths. The remains of the allied fleet, hanging in place, watched in stupefied and weary awe as these gods of peace swooped through the air. The broken SpellStone came together, and as one, the four regained their lost light. 

Injured pilots and broken machines were mended in a rush of cool light that flowed over them, polarizing the dramatic scene into white and black before freezing it entirely.

* * *

They were in space. Solar shone brightly upon the wearied and bloody group of fighters that had survived the battle. Many looked towards each other now, not as enemies or even allies, but as friends, brought together by bonds only war could forge. 

Fox watched as Cornerian and Venomian carriers moved to retrieve their lost men, taking them up almost as a mother might collect her lost children. But some of those would never return, never see their wives and loved ones again. Victory had come, but at a heavy price.

Exhausted and battle-wearied, Fox looked on beyond the approaching figure of the Great Fox, towards Grall. War was still present, and this had been just one more to mark in the pages of history. Yet Fox felt an odd peace take him, and for a moment, he could swear he saw someone smiling at him, through all those light years of empty and desolate space.

For a second, he could see the approving visage of Wolf O'Donnell.


	39. o Book II o Eloria

**Black Skies  
**

* * *

**Book II: Eloria**

* * *

"The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power." –Francis Bacon

* * *

_Description_: Star Wolf was sent on what appeared to be a suicide mission- a patrol deep into Grallian territory, with no backup or promise of rescue should things go awry. Yet this is exactly the kind of situation with the same adversity of the past that Star Wolf is used to. Whether they can pull it off or not depends upon them.

* * *

_Author's Note_: Here is the second part of the Black Skies saga. With the support of all my reviewers and everyone else, we've made it this far. Now, people are pressing with all sorts of other questions- will there be a sequel? How long until the climax? When will it be over? How will it be over? I'm thankful to be receiving notes like these, as it means that someone is interested. 

We now follow Star Wolf. And onwards!

* * *


	40. Rattletrap

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: And here we have it. We have now passed into Book II: Eloria, where the journey continues for our protagonists. But if you're a Star Fox fan, then brace yourself- you will not be seeing them for some time. This story will focus on Star Wolf, as well as link the story Defiance to Black Skies. 

We're now a third of the way done. Thanks to everyone who made this happen!

And just to clear something up, Eloria begins at the same time that Lylat did, so this is happening at about the same time as the Second Aparoid War.

* * *

**Chapter 36 Rattletrap

* * *

**They had been traveling at warp for an hour at best when Wolf had turned to Panther with a sudden jerk, looking up from the bridge's circular podium that displayed upon a flat screen the position of neighboring star systems and ships relative to the Cornerian Wolf's horizontal axis. 

Lylat was just pulling away from the map edge, disappearing planet by planet off the screen. Just as the final body, Corneria, was about to disappear, Wolf turned and gave the order to drop to sublight speeds.

Despite his surprise, Panther brought the carrier out of warp in a smooth blurring of stars, accompanied by a draining whir and hum. Leon looked up from where he was cleaning his weapons, but once he saw there was nothing of interest, he turned back to polishing his knives.

"Bring the ship around," said Wolf, the first thing he had uttered since they had departed an hour ago. Panther gave a nod, then fired the main engines, pulling the ship back across its bows in a slow turn.

Wolf squinted, but try as he might, he could not pinpoint Solar amongst the eternal tapestry of space. With a growl and a thought, he activated his cybernetic eye patch, which highlighted the star for him in a blinking red circle that trailed a data prong, listing some cursory information about Lylat. The lupine shut the device off, and with a nod, the Cornerian Wolf was off again, its prow pointing towards Grall.

Wolf lapsed into silence once more, falling deep into thought. In all his years of being a war criminal, of hiding and of fighting, he had never ventured beyond Lylat's borders. When he was a young cub, Wolf could distinctly remember that the thought unnerved him- that it was frightening. He remembered the concern on his father's face when he had read that Voyager, Corneria's first interstellar ship, had disappeared without a trace.

Tearing thoughts away from his sire, Rogue O'Donnel, Wolf's eyes drifted back towards the map. Some star systems flickered in and out of sight on the edges of the screen, but for the most part, it was a blank slab of backlit glass. They were alone.

The steady throbbing of the warp engines was a constant presence throughout the ship. At the steady speed of stream factor six, the carrier could reach the Horizon System within four days.

As he left the bridge for some much needed rest, he took a glance at the damage control console, where a model of the Cornerian Wolf rotated in slow spirals. Every plate of armor was a bright green, where normally it would have ripped off at such speeds.

All was well.

* * *

Wolf had been able to spend only a few hours resting in his quarters when the comm rang. Putting down the novel he was reading with a mock growl, he hit the answer button. Before he could even ask as to who was calling, Leon's voice came crackling through the speaker. 

"Wolf, get up here. We've got company."

"Good or bad?" quizzed Wolf, standing up with a sigh. There was a small snort.

"I haven't decided," replied the chameleon, and it was then that the line closed. Wolf shook his head and left his chambers, heading aft for the bridge.

When his furred head emerged from beneath the floor, Leon turned with a careless gesture, looking over briefly at the power lift that the lupine had just forgone. He shrugged.

"Cornerian cruiser, Wildfire-Class. But there're a few odd things about this one. Take a look," advised Leon, and he turned back to tap a few controls on the map behind him. The viewpanes darkened and flashed to show the ship directly astern.

Wolf frowned. A three-dimensional lattice model of the ship was revolving to the right and left of the actual image, information lines scrolling out to highlight weapon banks.

The ship was bigger than other Cornerian cruisers, wider at the prow and longer. Weapon signatures were showing all over the craft- focal lasers, plasma cannons, and many others. Far more than a normal cruiser would carry.

There was no trill of an incoming hail. Wolf was about to order the shields raised and weapons charged when the cruiser abruptly slewed and exited the warp stream, forging a new one for itself and dropping out of sight.

Just before the other ship passed aside, Wolf caught the flash of its registry. A string of acronyms and the one word, Verity.

Leon gave a cold, indifferent shrug and turned back to his post. Wolf ambled over in a slow walk, eye flicking down to focus on the map.

Upon its black, mirrorlike surface, the flashing blue dot of the LLRC CSS Verity slipped away and dove out of sight. The screen was blank once more, not a star or ship passing down its length.

* * *

The hours slipped by in a relentless, but plodding march, almost at pace to the stars crawling outside. Every five hours, the carrier would drop out of warp to rest its engines and replenish any drained components, continue at sublight for an hour, then leap back to high speeds. The cycle repeated four times a day. Each member of Star Wolf took their turns on the bridge, manning the systems, watching the map. But for the most part, the ship was silent, no furs walking its halls or conversing aloud. 

They had been one day from Horizon when a jarring impact had shook the ship from stem to stern. Sparks blew from the ceiling in cascades of electricity and various plasma junctions across the ship overloaded and detonated in rending, but containable explosions.

The lift door opened, and Katt looked back to see Panther stagger from the car, bracing himself against the doorframe as the ship rolled again.

"Don't ask, I don't know what's going on!" thrust in Katt, intervening before Panther could ask the blatent question. "Take a look and make your guess!" A glance towards the viewscreen showed only a ripping, undulating coil of blue that rushed past the ship in surges, then faded to a weak trace. With each new pulse of light, the ship would rock again, systems flashing urgent reports of damage.

Panther suddenly dove forwards, tucking his body into a roll as he fell. Behind him, the lift exploded, doors buckling outwards and thin tongues of flame lashing out like whips and crackling into the air.

Picking himself up, the feline dashed over to a repair console, keying in shield commands and prompts, drawing every available scrap of power into the shields and engines. To his left, he could see Katt diligently manipulating the controls, paws deftly flicking the flight controls in all directions.

There was an angry series of chimes from below. As the Cornerian Wolf turned into the energy beam, the loud tramp of iron-shod footpaws echoed up the staircase and onto the bridge. Wolf and Leon emerged onto the command deck seconds later, both crossing within seconds to the situation map.

A large, thick emission beam was roiling out from something, its flight path almost miraculously intersecting that of the Cornerian Wolf.

The carrier, bucking and swinging, barely passed the beam's threshold in one piece, the shields flickering and sparking wildly as they attempted to regain cohesion. The bluish hue which had taken the bridge by storm subsided as the beam was put behind them.

Almost a minute had passed before the massive energy surge began to subside. At the same instant, the situation map was filled with a rush of static, the image fading out at the behest of a rush of interference.

Panther was frowning. "I could have sworn," he began, "that I saw the Cornerian ship. It is gone."

"Ah, that thing's tougher than this old bucket," shot back Katt, shaking her head. "I'd be more concerned with the damage to us."

"She has a point, Panther," hissed Leon. "We've lost a quarter of the ship's systems. And there's a lot of readings back to starboard that don't bode well. We should leave."

"Agreed," said Wolf, nodding empathetically. "The Cornerians can take care of themselves. They're none of our concern."

Although little physical damage had been done to the ship, owing to the shield grid, many power conduits had been badly scorched by an energy feedback caused by the massive impact.

With the warp drive disabled and the engines too badly damaged to be trusted, the journey to Horizon doubled from a day to two and a half, leading to raised tempers and more silences over the ship.

Slipping into orbit around the third planet of the Horizon System, the Cornerian Wolf was almost immediately descended upon by repair ships coming from the outpost on the planet surface. Athough the entire system was a nonaggression area, Wolf could not bring his eyes away from the Grallian outpost which sat upon the fifth planet.

* * *

Another day passed, and the shining sun of Averas rose above the rim of the planet to bathe the newly overhauled Cornerian Wolf, the carrier sporting newer, reflective armor and with every system purged of the damage inflicted upon them. With a science vessel rushing back to search for the Verity, the ship could once more set its course for Grall, and with a satisfying whine, the ship leapt to warp in a blazing streak of color and light. 

Vast stretches of space sailed past in a slow dance of the cosmos. Seperated from the rest of space by a thin, almost transparent wall of the warp stream, the Cornerian Wolf plodded along, sensors blank and dull.

Wolf was leaving the bridge, ringing the buzzer to signal Leon to report. The lift doors were sliding open when a single tone began to sound off, filling the deck with its voice.

The lupine froze, slowly turning in place. He knew what that alarm signaled. Only one event would trigger that alarm to sound.

An enemy contact had been detected. Seconds later, an blaring klaxon began to sound, Wolf's recorded voice booming over the speakers.

"Star Wolf to battle stations. Repeat. Star Wolf to battle stations."


	41. Closing the Distance

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Well, we are moving on with the story of Star Wolf, albeit a bit slowly. I apologize if you've had to wait for an update, but school and other things delay how fast I can write my story chapters. Ah, well. I was wondering why this particular file on my AlphaSmart was empty- now I know. And here now is the next installment of Black Skies!

* * *

**Chapter 37 Closing the Distance**

* * *

A chirping alarm was sounding somewhere in the back of the bridge as the azure walls of the warp stream rolled by past the viewpanes, stretching behind and beyond until they converged in a faint disc of sapphire blue. 

Wolf turned away from the undulating ripples of color as the lift doors hissed apart, admitting Katt and Panther onto the bridge. The steady tramp of steel-toed boots announced Leon's ascent up the stairs. Wolf gave a nod to them, turning to face Katt as she settled behind the sensor boards.

The feline took one glance before giving a slow shake of her head. "All the readings confirm Grallian ships," she said. "But they look more like patrol vessels- heavily armed, but not quite as well shielded as warships."

"But there are three of them," said Wolf, voice flat as he ran calculatiosn through his heads. "Panther?"

The dark-furred fur gave a small shake of his head, mirroring that which Katt had given seconds earlier. "Wolf, this is a carrier. No matter what defenses we carry, it is still a carrier. I will do my best, but those shipswill probably still be able to fly circles around us."

"Well, don't let them!" snapped the lupine, turning to Leon now, giving a small jerk of his head to prompt the lizard to talk. Scaled paws running over his tactical console, the reptile gave a nod.

"Carrier or not, we carry the weaponry to drive them off in a pinch. But almost none of our weapons can be fired at warp. We have some tower launchers for missiles, but those have proved useless against most Grallians. But I can improvise."

"I'm sure you can," rebuked Katt, "but then again, can you do it without killing us?"

"Of course," hissed Leon, before curtly slapping his tale upon the steel deck and looking back down to his console. Wolf turned back to the viewpanes, watching at the smokey haze that peeled away before them.

"The patrol ships are overtaking us!" warned Panther, paws flying wildly over the array of buttons and screens before him. "They have increased to stream factor eight!"

"Top speed!" barked Wolf, taking a step forwards towards the helm station. Panther gave an agitated twitch.

"We can only make factor six! Even the Great Fox can barely maintain factor seven!" Wolf growled, lips curling downwards to bare fangs as he vented his displeasure to the air. Leon, on the other hand, was looking positively pleased, cold face breaking into an even icier grin.

"They are attempting to merge with our warp stream," said Katt, eyes tracking readings which scrolled before her. "But it doesn't seem they can do that. It's their field composition. They're being repelled."

"Nevertheless," said Wolf, "they are preventing us from dropping to sublight. We have to stop within the next five hours, somewhere. Any places?"

"I'd guess about three nearby," was the reply, but even as Wolf began to issue the next order, the Cornerian Wolf gave a terrible shudder, throwing the lupine to the deck. Growling, he wrenched himself back up as the ship shuddered again.

"They're opening fire on the warp stream!" called Katt, when another crash threw the feline from her position back onto the floor. The lights and consoles flickered as a third distortion gripped the ship in its embrace, threatening to tear it apart.

"Ah, not this time, beauty!" cajoled Panther, reaching up from the floor to coax the ship away from a patch of darkness upon the stream walls. Even still, an intense eddy gave the ship a kick, causing the shields to flutter in defense.

Wolf could see the peril closing in upon them. The walls of the warp stream would be illuminated from behind with dull red glows, as a red lamp might light blue glass. Then, with a rippling shockwave of white radiance, that section of the channel would disentigrate to bare the space beyond. Powerful currents drew the ship towards these patches, and entry would mean sure destruction as the ship would be torn to pieces.

"Weapons?" demanded Wolf, returning to a standing position with great difficulty as Panther dodged another eddy.

"They haven't merged with our warp stream," snapped the assassin, "and we can't shoot until they do. Obviously, they've figured something out to fix that problem."

Great, gaping patches were opening all around the Cornerian Wolf, pockmarking the roiling conduit of sapphire and riddling it with patches of darkness. The entire stream was flickering as Wolf turned to Panther, giving a sharp nod.

The feline returned the movement and eased the ship out of warp, the distortions of the ruined warp stream shaking the ship as it was thrown from the field.

"Pan the viewpanes," ordered Wolf, and the glass panes darkened to show the image behind the ship. Stretching into the distance, the lupine could see the ruins of their warp stream, a shifting column of blue and azure lights which danced and winked before his eyes. The stream began to fade.

A weapons impact brought his attention back to the situation at hand, the viewpanes automatically shifting to show the agressors. Three Grallian patrol ships, each a quarter of the Cornerian Wolf's size, were darting towards them, the golden remains of their warp stream disappearing without a trace after only a few seconds. Angry bolts of red laser fire traversed the distance between the ships to burst with frightening power upon the carrier's shields.

Wolf gave a nod both sides. "Panther, Katt, Leon, with me. Shift helm and weapon controls over to the AI. We're heading out."

* * *

Shields flared as lance after lance of weapons fire crashed into the launch bay doors. A barrier of crackling, multihued energy rose to deflect the barrage. Beneath the protective envelope, the the first blast door on the starboard hangar slid open, retracting sideways into the forward nub of the bow. The second set opened next, withdrawing into two halves, each sliding sideways into the armor. A final set opened vertically, allowing yellow light to spill out into space. A containment field glowed a pale green, rippling as four Wolfens arced out in blazes of violet ions and the green hue of Gravity Blades. 

A previously unheard battery of small point-defense weapons upon the patrol craft opened up, spitting white-tipped bolts of crimson energy in all directions.

The cockpit roared around Leon as one round, reflecting from the carrier's shields, impacted his ventral hull. Shield alarms blared as his defensive net dropped in strength to 89 percent. With a low growl, the chameleon banked his ship and opened fire, sending twin lances of viridian into a point-defense turret. The gun placement exploded into a plume of fire and shrapnel, the debris repelled by a particle field as Leon threw his Wolfen into a barrel roll.

The second attack run was executed by Katt, her fighter spewing destructive bolts of energy which fell like rain upon the silver hull of a patrol vessel, flaring into ovular circlets of white light and leaving black metal in their wake. Explosions wreathed by angry orange and crimson flame erupted all over the vessel as turrets were destroyed. Jinking and ramming her ship into a steep ascent, the feline just was able to avoid a gout of raw plasma which jetted from a larger ship gun.

The rippling bolt of golden matter crashed into the Cornerian Wolf's shields, overwhelming them and continuing onwards to impact the hull. Much of the blast was absorbed by the port hangar's blast doors, but some of the remainder spilt over the top of the ship and cracked the thin layer of reflective armor, leaving jagged scars in the mirrored surface.

Spitting out fat globs of green plasma, the four cannons set into the carrier's hull threw blazing fury into the taxed shields of the offending vessel, collapsing the barrier.

Streaking down the ship's center line, Wolf relayed a command to the Cornerian Wolf's computers and then depressed a trigger.

From beneath the Wolfen's lower set of wings, two racks extended from the fighter's belly, baring a flight of missiles, ten in all. Two silver darts blasted from the rack, their tails lit by a scarlet glow. Flashing with reflected starlight, the twin warheads continued on towards their target.

Gritting his teeth, Wolf threw his ship in a hard roll to the left, just as one of two focal cannons on the carrier behind him, mounted in the centers of the ventral and dorsal hulls, opened fire. A thick, pulsating beam of red light cut into the armor.

A second later, both missiles, set for an explosive charge, impacted the wreckage of the ship's bridge armor and exploded. Within the ruins, a reactor detonated, sending fragments of the patrol ship whistling off into space, each winking as a polished side caught starlight and flared into radiance like a newborn sun.

* * *

Panther was a dancer, his flight path intersecting with Katt's at almost anticipated times, the two starfighters swooping in tandem across the starry skies. Engines and hulls a colored blur against the void, they spewed forth fire down onto a patrol's shields, knocking with each pass the barriers ever lower. Yet the vessel was still firing, ricocheting laser fire off of the Cornerian Wolf's reflective armor and then sending thicker plasma rounds in to destroy it.

* * *

It was with no small sense of relief that Wolf heaved a sigh when the carrier's computer announced that the shield grids had been reinitialized. Furthermore, they had regenerated to almost twelve percent. 

The carrier's two focal lasers shore the third patrol ship's hull into two, the flickering beams playing across the wreckage until a tremendous detonation annihilated it. The second patrol, harassed all the way by Wolfens, turned about and fled at the highest warp speed it could manage.

Although Leon complained bitterly at the loss of prey, Wolf allowed himself a smile as his fighter nudged into a docking receptacle. Star Wolf was back again, and life was good.

* * *

His grin had faded by the time the lupine had arrived on the bridge. Leon was standing with arms crossed before him, glaring down at the situation table. A dashed set of yellow lines indicated probable courses for the escaped patrol vessel. 

"Wolf," he hissed, not even looking up. "The ship that got away will only bring others. They have twice our speed."

"We'll just have to deal with it," replied Wolf, leaning over the map on another side. "All we need to do is find an area where speed is unimportant- an asteroid belt, a debris field, anything like that."

"The closest one is a week away at best," snapped the chameleon. "There is no way we can make it to any of those places, nor back to Horizon."

"What are you suggesting, then?" demanded Wolf. The cold smile he received in answer was almost as bad as the proposal itself.

* * *

"There is no way that that will hide us!" stormed the lupine, smashing a paw into the table. "Are you insane? It takes almost an hour to get the shield generators online from a cold start, longer for the reactors!" 

"And it only takes a quarter of that to ramp up the auxiliary generators and polarize the hull plating," answered Leon, voice calm and back to its normal, icy monotone. "There is no way we can hide any other way. We have no cloak, no speed...face it. Think like an assassin!"

"I don't fancy slipping a knife into someone's ribs," muttered the lupine, voice low. "But we'll do it. Make the necessary preparations. And Leon?" he called, seeing the reptile leaving the room. "Don't screw this one up."

Leon gave a sibilant hiss that could have been a laugh, then he faded from sight, slipping out into the hallway.

Wolf rubbed his eyebrows in consternation. At some times, he had no idea whether having Leon with him was an advantage- or a fault.

* * *

The quad set of engines, colossal ovular chasms spewing azure plasma ions in a rippling stream, burned brightly for three seconds. Within the bowels of the carrier's beating heart, Main Engineering, countless hundreds of plasma valves slid shut with the rasping of metal. Leon threw another lever, and a klaxon-like alarm blared from all points of the room as the valves pinched off the plasma stream. The pressure vacuum hurled the remaining vestiges of fuel into the engine chambers, a bright flare of white. Then the blue flames began to drain away, flickering and wavering as they died into a faint glow. 

Blue mist began to collect upon the edges of the Cornerian Wolf, glowing with a faint radiance. Within the ship, a whining hum rolled through the halls, pervading every room with its insisting presence.

With a flare of light, the collections of sapphire smoke raced forwards and backwards, forming a ghostly rectangle before and behind the carrier. Behind the stern, the four twisting strands spiraled on for several seconds, widening at their apexes into crackling spheres of energy.

All at once, these exploded, throwing a blue shockwave in all directions which caught up the threads of mist and threw them forwards. The Cornerian Wolf disappeared in the rush of particles, swept away by the cascade.

The particle flood narrowed and condensed into a stream, shooting forwards faster than the eye could follow and extending into space.

"Three seconds, Panther!" reminded Wolf, tightening his grip on the nearest console. The feline gave a nod, then threw three levers down to their lowest setting.

An explosive starburst, blue in color, pierced the void with spokes of light, six in number. From the burst trailed a tapered cone, an circular portal tearing apart its tip and throwing the Cornerian Wolf out into normal space.

Behind it, the shifting warp stream danced and faded, the particles losing their brilliance and falling into absolute nothingness. Shields flickered and lights went out one by one as the ship powered down, coursing forwards at almost the speed of light upon the soft wings of inertia.


	42. Cold Run

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Hey guys, sorry if the last chapter was a little dotty. I haven't had the chance to run my usual set of spelling checks and crap, and so that last chapter suffered a bit for it. 

For anyone concerned, my global writing status. I will be getting back hopefully to my Star Trek: Enterprise story, Inversion, and possibly to my old Lord of the Flies tale. I may soon get started on an Eragon fiction. I'm working on an original story for an RP that I will be restarting sometime this year. A new Star Trek: Enterprise story is on the way, and although Through Unheard Eyes and Defiance are (unfortunately) on hold, Horizons is having its third chapter rewritten (the original one I had was crap) and Red Skies is now completed up to chapter nine. I hope to have the entire prologue ready for publishing as soon as Black Skies is finished.

Raphael, out!

* * *

**Chapter 38 Cold Run**

* * *

Stars wheeled by at a maddeningly slow pace. Every exterior viewpane was darkened, even the dorsal and ventral floodlights shut down. In the cold, steel halls, only every fifth lamp was on, casting many of the serviceways into wavering shadow. The mess hall was dimly lit by a small number of overhead lights. 

On the bridge, only the systems terminal was online, every other console either shut down or blinking feebly. A dark shape passed in front of a screen. Leon tapped a few keys, bringing up a set of calculations. The screen displayed lines of text and several options at the base. Leon vented little frustration at the basic, power saving operating system, focusing his energies instead upon double checking the lines of code scrolling before his eyes.

He gave a twitch of an eyelid in satisfaction. Every equation turned out correct, after undergoing an extensive, rigorous triple check. Giving one annoyed glance at the nonfunctional lift, the chameleon left the bridge by means of the stairs, reaching the lower systems pit and then passing out of the command division.

* * *

The Cornerian Wolf gave a low rumble as a gravity well took ahold of it. Outside the viewpanes, the stars began to blur as a slingshot effect sped the ship to translight speeds, the vessel leaping ahead and bucking slightly. 

"Brace yourselves," advised Leon, walking into Main Engineering, where the rest of the team was assembled, in various maintenance jobs around the room. "The nova's due in about two minutes."

"If this kills us," grumbled Wolf in response, "I'm gonna kill you again, just to prove a point."

"Whatever you say," hissed Leon, taking a place where he was braced on all sides. "However much point that might have."

"Do us a favor, and shut up, Leon," growled Katt, settling herself in near Panther. "That's enough of you for today."

"Certainly," shot back the reptile, cackling to himself before turning his face away. Katt gave a scowl, which refused to abate even beneath Panther's stroking paws.

Wolf's reply was drowned out by a tremendous rumble. Peering at a viewscreen, Wolf could see the dying star exploding into a spheroid of stellar debris, dying trauma flares thrusting out into the void.

* * *

The molten shockwave of plasma and fire crashed into the stern of the Cornerian Wolf, pitching it forwards and tumbling it in a slow yawing motion, beginning a roll until another flare slammed the carrier forwards and spinning it like a top.

* * *

Wolf watched a monitor displaying a rising numeral as the ship traveled at ever increasing speeds. With a crash and a violent shake that set off alarms across the ship, the vessel accelerated to almost twice the speed of light. Thrown forwards, the careening vessel outpaced the shockwave, leaving it behind. 

"It's not over," warned Leon, before Panther could pose the question. "Watch."

Behind them, the great cloud of gas drew back in upon itself until it vanished into a tremendously bright point in space. Seconds later, the point collapsed into a singularity. In the instant before the black hole was formed, a huge, roiling shockwave rippled out, flashing in a dazzling rainbow.

* * *

Katt dove beneath a bulkhead as power conduits began to explode all over the chamber, gouts of sparks and flame cascading down to the deck below, where they flashed out in dull spheres of crimson light.

* * *

Some hours later, an anxious Star Wolf was clustered around the situation console, staring down at the grim readings. Wolf shook his head. 

"It didn't work. They're coming."

"To investigate the supernova," snapped Leon, flicking his head sideways in irritation. "No reason for us to be detected. We just look like another piece of stellar debris."

"In the middle of nowhere," shot back Katt.

"We need to restart the fusion fission cores," advised Panther. "We need weapons and hull plating."

"They'll see it," defended Leon. "If we're found, we'll know. And we'll have plenty of time to power up."

"You can't be sure of that, Leon," groused Wolf. He stared for a few seconds longer at the map before him, making his decision.

"...wait fifteen minutes. Then begin power up procedures. We're coming about. If we can get the singularity between us and them, they'll never see us."

"Neither will we," reminded Leon. "Wolf, I would suggest-"

"That's enough, Leon!" barked the lupine. "Those are my orders. Now get working!"

* * *

Minutes ticked by, passing slowly through the shadows in a pulsing mantra of darkness. Sluggish as it was, the fifteen minutes of silence went by in what felt like an instant at its end. 

Three switches were thrown. Within seconds, a dull, grating sound rolled through the ship. The scrapings began to meld together until it became a hum. Lights flickered on all over the ship, and power surged through waiting plasma conduits, exciting the matter into its vibrant state. Within the conduits, blindingly bright rainbows of color and energy slashed about, crackling with electricity.

* * *

The bridge came to life with a veritable roar of beeps, clicks, and tones. Computer screens flashed from monotone, white and black screens into full color, sensor readouts washing across their lengths. Wolf looked over at Leon, who was scowling to himself. 

Panther and Katt, on the other hand, were beaming.

Minutes rolled by, until at last, a dull blue glow rippled along the armor's surface as it polarized. Within Main Engineering, the tall warp core was lit from within by a tiny ember, several reactions sparking with violent starbursts of color before fading away. Slowly, the flashes began to increase in frequency, the entire core now beginning to glow.

* * *

"Three ships are coming to investigate," said Leon. "If you want to get behind the hole, you'd best do it now." 

"Agreed," replied Wolf. "Panther!"

"I'm on it," said the feline, and Panther's skilled hands danced over a console, igniting the ship's sublight drive in a flare of ionic particles. After only a few moments, the Cornerian Wolf leapt forwards.

* * *

"One quarter...one half...three quarters..." muttered Panther, eying the velocity readouts with caution. He sat back, relaxing. "Three quarters light. We're at top speed until we get main generators online." 

"It'll have to be good enough," replied Wolf. "Leon?"

"Weapons are charged and ready," answered the chameleon.

"Scanners are reading normal. I'm seeing nothing but standard diagnostics from the entire ship," added Katt. Wolf gave a nod, then rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles.

"Time to get started." he said. His cybernetic eye whirred as it flashed to display a tactical log. "Let's take it to them, guys!"

* * *

The command was excecuted flawlessly. The instant the patrol ships came around the lip of the black hole, passing the event horizon, a set of four plasma bolts roared outwards. The green orbs of light, trailing their viridian tails behind them like the ice clouds comets, spun outwards to crash into raised shields.

One patrol vessel, unable to raise its defenses in time, was torn apart by the blaze of whirling fire and exploded, detonating in a maelstrom of fire and darkly illuminated metal. The sudden violence did not leave the survivors surprised, however. An explosion of laser fire rolled outwards in a wave of destructive light.

The rain of laser bolts struck the hull of the Cornerian Wolf, winking out in flares of ovular light. Golden sparks cascaded out from impact sites and into space in showers of molten gold. Bluish ripples and distortions ran across the hull plating at each shot.

* * *

On the bridge, sparks and smoke were flying out from every console in tremendous bursts of energy, sound, and acrid fumes. Wolf ducked one blast of electricity, leaning hard from his chair to avoid the spray. He gave an order, but it was lost in the roar of the ship around him.

* * *

Two focal lasers cut out into the void, blazing swathes of crimson which swept across both attacking ships. All at once, the first ship pulled a tight, half-loop, spiraling back towards the lip of the event horizon. 

The lasers crackled and grated across the shields of the oncoming patrol vessel. The ship made a quick roll, spoiling the shots, and continued to fire. Five violet torpedoes suddenly crashed from previously unseen ports on the bows, dashing for the Cornerian Wolf with eye-watering speed. At the same instant, the second ship cleared the event horizon, sending off a message to its compatriots.

The first of five torpedoes slammed into the Cornerian Wolf, detonating with tremendous force against the hull plating. Shattered reflective armor went whirling in all directions, and wisps of white atmosphere came rushing from a jagged wound where the plating once stood.

* * *

A massive portion of the bridge erupted into flames. Staggering heavily, Katt ripped a fire suppression unit from her console and sprayed down the blaze, crackling flames dying down with angry hisses. 

All at once, Wolf realized he had seen a volley of five torpedoes leave the first ship. At the same time, the lupine also knew that both ships had stopped firing. The haze parted before his eyes, leaving a clear view of the viewpanes, which were still intact despite the beating the ship had taken.

A silvery blur flashed by the bridge, a brutal spray of scarlet plasma bolts erupting from its prow. A silent boom rocked the Cornerian Wolf at a nearby detonation. The shape flashed by once more, and this time, Wolf knew it was a fighter, but one unlike any he had seen before.

A massive, tubular ship with a proud bridge and a massive, ventral fin bearing gigantic engines along its length hove into view. A dazzling explosion of yellow laser fire burst from the ship's front. The remaining Grallian ship collapsed in a gout of flame and whirlwind of parts.

Wolf caught a glimpse of the ship's registry as it turned towards them. Upon the hull was emblazoned a spread of letters, proudly bearing their message. The Lady Elorian.

* * *

"Hull plating is at 43 percent," said Leon, surveying the tactical data. "Weapons across the ship are at 67 percent capacity." 

Wolf gripped the sides of his chair. "We don't know if that ship is a friend or foe," he said, brain firing as he assessed the situation. "Get down to the launch bay. We're clearing out- for now."

Katt stood, and was about to hit the first step when a chime broke out from her station. Frowning, the feline punched at the corresponding button.

The viewpanes darkened, and a fuzzy, crackling image of a young, pretty otter swam into view on the screen. Yet her voice was hard as steel and just as cold when she opened her maw to speak.

"This is Team Elengale," she began, eyes glinting. "Stand down your weapons and prepare to be boarded."

There was a moment of silence on the bridge. All eyes were on Wolf. After an instant of hesitation, the lupine gave a casual shrug and a blink. "Alright. I'm Wolf O'Donnell of Star Wolf. Leon," he barked, turning sideways. "Do what the lady said." Turning back to the screen, he inclined his head forwards in a faintly aggressive manner. "I'll be waiting for you at our starboard docking port," he stated, voice crisp, and with that, he turned on his heel and left the bridge.

The computer gave a chirp as the channel closed, and the other members of Star Wolf could see the looming figure of the Lady Elorian drawing near.


	43. First Contact

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: How sorry can one be for delaying his or her writing, and then rewriting said writing over and over again five times because said person didn't like it? I'm sorry for the delay, folks, on this and all my stories. High school is ridiculous. 

Fun, but ridiculous.

* * *

**Chapter 39 First Contact**

* * *

The viewpanes flickered with rows of distorted green text, the images flashing on and off to no apparent pattern at all. Some showed telemetry data, others gave the closest thing the ship had to a heads-up display- damage reports, shield status, weapon conditions, power reserves, and other such pieces of information. 

The largest concentration of marks focused upon the approaching Elorian vessel, which drew ever closer as the seconds passed. Leon surveyed the data with interest, while Panther gamely fought the ship at the helm, compensating for the rushes of air from hull breaches, the random firings of damaged thrusters, and the gripping pull of the nearby black hole. Sparks flared intermittently from damaged consoles and from conduits in the floor and ceiling.

* * *

The hallways and corridors connecting the bridge to the docking hatch were no less grim. Collapsed structural girders, broken glass, dust, and ominous clouds of discharged plasma littered the passing scenery, filling it with a sense of foreboding. Wolf took careful note of the plumes of dark gas, as well as their location. To reinitialize the main power grid, with so many breaks and ruptures in the plasma conduits, would be tantamount to suicide. 

Above him, the ceiling panels cast out a feeble glow that wavered like a candle before a gale. Shadows danced and undulated with a sinister motion upon the deck as the lupine's paws tread upon them.

Wolf spun backwards on something beyond instinct, the moment a shower of sparks erupted from a previously concealed power tap, flames rushing up from the deck where the sparks struck combustible plasma gas. The commander took in the situation without even a glance, and the lupine made a blind leap and roll, throwing himself clear of the danger area.

The jump had been, somehow, in the direction of the conduit breaches spreading flammables into the area. Knowing that there was not a communications panel in sight, Wolf seized a fallen metal plate and, running at his top speed against the raging flash fire, threw the panel upon one of the breaches, sealing it off.

The flames raced towards him as he came to a skidding halt, rolling at the end to once more push himself clear. The conflagration died almost as quickly as it had been born, unable to pierce the metallic barrier between it and its fuel. Other breaches continued to leak wisps of discharged plasma, but the danger was over.

Wolf's paw struck the control before him in irritation. The lifts were down. He had only gone a single deck. He would have to descend the next three through the labyrinth of access crawlways.

He had no doubt that a good number of them were blocked or filled with toxic gases. It was time to ring up his friends on the bridge.

* * *

"What could be taking them so long?" wondered an otter aloud, standing in the transparent confines of the Lady Elorian's airlock. He shifted his weight as glinting, hardened eyes stared at the sealed portal on the other side. 

"I don't like this," added another, this one the one that had hailed the ship earlier. "You never know who might come out of those doors. And they're taking some time at it, as well."

"Judging by the looks of their ship, though," interjected a third, "it would appear that they have sustained massive damage. Their intra-ship transportation systems may have been destroyed or incapacitated."

A few minutes more of silence, before the lead otter checked a chronometer on the control panel besides them. "We'll give them a few more minutes," he announced. "Then we'll close off this hatchway and hail them again."

Seconds ticked by. The smallest of the three in stature, Amy, could feel her paw drawing subconsciously nearer to the laser pistol at her hip. The other tensed next to her crimson vest, close to the bandolier containing power cells of various yields. She could sense the others doing the same, not out of mistrust, but out of caution.

Another minute passed. The strain upon Amy's mind was at the breaking point when, at last, the airlock seal on the other side hissed open, wrenched aside with the help of a dishelved, burly wolf in ebony body armor.

The lupine shook his headfur clear of dust, and as he did, the three otters could easily see the flickering light of a fire behind him. Wolf gave a low cough.

"Perhaps we could discuss matters on your ship?" The center otter gave a nod and, without a word, disappeared back into his ship. The second followed him, but Amy lingered a moment, staring back at Wolf's battered form, before making a gesture for him to follow as she moved for the bridge.

* * *

As the two walked, Amy was keenly aware of Wolf's analytical sweeps of the ship around him. His cybernetic eye, she reasoned, was probably abuzz with sensor readings and logging information. And without a doubt, the lupine beside her was cataloguing the ship's layout and length in his mind as a precautionary step. 

Just as she would have done, had she been on his vessel. At that thought, she wished once more for peace and independence. A scowl flickered across her muzzle at the resulting thought, the one of the invaders who had wrenched her home from the bloody paws of her parents, just a few decades ago. Her gait widened into an angry stalk, and the alerted Wolf had to resort to a hurried stride to keep up in his exhaustion.

When he arrived upon the bridge, the other two otters were already there. Wolf had only a moment to survey the view through forward viewpanes, take in the openness of a forward bridge and its vulnerabilities, before he was hustled into a conference room attached to the bridge itself.

Amy stayed behind to tend the helm. Keeping the ship quiet helped her nurse a bubble of discontent rising within her. She fought it down and subdued it within her, until it was no more.

* * *

The door slid shut with a pneumatic hiss, causing Wolf's ears to flick up in acknowledgement. Across the table sat the otter who was clearly the band's leader. Standing above and behind was the burly one, who looked to be a mechanic of some sort. The seated fur leaned forward, paws clasp, to begin. 

"Leran Elengale. I'm the leader of Team Elengale."

"Wolf O'Donnell," responded Wolf in kind. "Head of Star Wolf."

"Let us get down to business, shall we?" offered the other, voice polite. "How did it come to pass that you and your crew got tagged by a gang of patrol ships, and clearly took damage well beyond anything that that group could do in one sitting? In other words, why were you attacked...twice?"

"Interesting question," replied the lupine, tilting his chair and resting his footpaws upon the table. The standing otter gave a wince. "We're a mercenary outfit representing a group under attack from Grall. We were doing reconnaissance when we were detected."

"And you incurred damage in both encounters," surmised Leran. "May I ask what group you are contracted to?"

"I'd rather not divulge that at the moment," was the answer. There was a moment of flat, awkward silence as Leran contemplated the evasive answer. Both shifted in their slights slightly, the movements so small as to be almost nonexistent.

"We'll help with your ship," pronounced Leran, some time later. "We'll see if you can trust us then." Wolf gave a small smile, then stood and left the room.

On the way back to the Cornerian Wolf, the lupine was introduced to the third otter, who had remained silent the entire time. That was Garon Shard, the team's heavy weapons specialist and mechanic. Before Wolf had even stepped through the airlock collar, the otter was already ahead of him, tearing open wall panels and studying the equipment behind them.

Wolf was able to locate a working communications relay, and sent a message for Leon to acquaint himself with the newcomer. He had a feeling there would be no small amount of cooperation between the two.

Or bloodshed.

* * *

Stars wheeled by outside in a hypnotic, everlasting dance of the cosmos, standing bright against the dark tapestry of space. The pivoting celestial spheres provided an apt backdrop for Amy's mood, as she stood alone in the darkened mess hall. 

Once, she knew, this room was always full. Team Elengale had numbered almost two score at that time, ensuring an ample supply of conversation and interest. Now, though, the room was silent, respectfully echoing the footsteps and vitality of people long gone into the halls of the past.

She couldn't shake the loss of her last companion, Nian Javok. The squirrel had been an inspiration to her- quick, witty, and an exemplary patriot. She had been killed some months ago when her Subzero fighter had been caught alone, and was forced down onto a planet.

Amy had been the one to find its blackened and ruined remains, still smoking from the flames of reentry. Worst of all had been the body itself. The canopy had remained unshattered through some terrible twist of fate, and Nian's body had been lying there in the pilot's seat, neck broken, fur shrunken and skin grotesquely bubbled from where her blood had boiled. Much of the fur had been filthy, stained with sweat and blood from numerous lacerations gained on the way down. Part of her leg had ruptured from the impact. It had been the most disgusting sight she had ever seen, worse because it was a friend, or what was left of one. She had almost been glad when the body was jettisoned into the nearest star, in the Elorian tradition.

Wolf had that same look in his eyes, the ardent fever that had carried Nian through the hardest times of her life and smiling. And she resented him for that. It was almost tarnishing her memory of Nian, almost disgraceful that she was not unique.

Through the gallery window, the otter could see the silvery hulk of the Cornerian Wolf, swaying ever so slightly on the docking booms holding the two vessels together. The Lady Elorian, however, was larger to the point where the matching looked almost ridiculous- like a trout hounding a whale. The Cornerian Wolf was just over a third of the Lady Elorian's length, and was far smaller in the measure of wingspan. The hull itself, however, was wider and more solidly built than the longer Elorian vessel, and the powerful weapons mounted on the ship, few as they were, indicated that Star Wolf hailed from a system with no small amount of technology to work with.

* * *

"Sir?" The voice was question, crackling slightly as the signal twisted and warped, distorted by the erratic bursts of energy in the vicinity. Leran immediately sealed the chamber doors, opening his communicator to receive the message. 

"Yes, Garon?"

"I've done a full inspection. Their warp drive works on a similar principle to ours, but is far less efficient."

"Weapons? Defenses?"

"Apparently minimal. The shields are fairly thin, and the hull plating appears to have been recently added." There was a pause. "At least, some of it."

"Clarify."

"The outermost layer is reflective plate. Nothing new. But the armor underneath..."

"What about it?"

"It appears to be conductive, sir. A polarized pulse deflects or diffuses the impact of particle weapons, and electromagnetic reinforcement strengthens it by several orders of magnitude. It appears to be called polarized hull plating."

"Can you get any more information about it?"

"I tried. Access was blocked by their technician. I did get a look at their weapons, though, sir."

"Go on."

"They're on par with our own. Stronger, even. This ship appears to be a light carrier, and its weapons are just below those on our heavy cruiser. I wouldn't want to run into one of their battleships."

"We'll see. Good work. Leran out." The otter closed the channel and shut his eyes, leaning back in the red-padded armchair, lidded eyes gazing out at the stars.

They now knew the nature of their comrades. Clearly, they came from a race that knew war, and knew it well. They were both wary and cautious with information and alliances, and their ship was on the lower end of their group's fleet. This was no faction to be trifled with.

And it could be the one that would turn his situation around. Leran let the flicker of a smile flash across his visage as he contemplated the end result of that dream- Eloria restored, Grall broken and beaten, and the nation of his fathers rising amidst the smoking ashes of war.

All that would have to wait for another day, though. Negotiations had to be made, an alliance established. And for that to happen, Eloria would need a voice.

And Leran had found it.


	44. Break

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Well, several things of note. First, let me start out by thanking anyone who's kept up with this story for this long, as well as everyone who had the patience to wait for the next installments. I know, it's summer, and I should have gotten these chapters out long ago. That's my fault.

I have been completely out of the writing mood lately. My life's been turning around for the better, in almost every area except for writing. Frankly, I went back to my National Novel Writing Month story from November and the first few chapters of Black Skies—actually, several of the latter—and couldn't help but wonder at how awful they were.

I've been reading some amazing fanfictions lately—Sunrise over Lylat, Starfox: Mercenaries, Reflections of Marcus McCloud, and so on. They've given me a little insight into something I feel I lost, and hopefully, it'll help me be a better writer.

I feel that any talent I possess may have matured and gotten better in the downtime. But in any case, the undeniable fact is is that it's been several months since my last update. I can't help it if things are rusty for a few chapters. Until I can get back into the proper writing mood though, bear with me.

Again, thanks to anyone who stuck with this so long. And now, let's move on to the story.

* * *

**Chapter 40 Break**

* * *

From space, the damaged hull of the Cornerian Wolf flickered and sparked as stray bolts of electricity flared out, winking blue against the scorched gray and black of the hull plating. Every so often, a white flash of light would suffuse the void as power rushed into damaged shield emitters. For a brief instant, an clean, translucent aura would surround the ship. The next, the fragile envelope would collapse, and a burst of flame would erupt from an overloaded emitter.

Wolf watched this routine from the viewpanes of his bridge, gritting his teeth in irritation. He had already seen this painful sequence several times now, and each time, frayed power circuits were only degrading further.

Below him, he could hear Leon cursing as some console or another blew out. The systems pit was still essentially wrecked, but enough debris had been cleared to make it habitable again. Leon soon trudged up the stairway to the command deck, the lift having given out the day before.

"It's no good," spat the lizard in exasperation. "We'd need a drydock to fully repair this mess. The plasma conduits are still leaking too much—I can't get the power flow to remain stable."

Wolf watched him impassively. "I've heard you complain about this or that for the last several days, Leon. You've got a reputation as a miracle worker. Just spit out what you need and we'll get it done."

Leon gave a short, coarse bark of laughter. The sound was cold and devoid of mirth. "How about you start with patching the several hundred plasma leaks we've got? That might make my job a little easier."

Wolf surveyed the lizard with one unblinking eye, before he reached for his communicator and relayed the request to Panther and Katt. Once this had been done, the lupine shut the device and disappeared from the bridge himself, leaving Leon to mutter and clomp back to the controls.

* * *

Working individually, Wolf, Katt, and Panther scoured the ship, scanners held before them to search for telltale traces of plasma. Once the telltale indicators began to flash and emit a high-pitched keen, the three would pull out magnetic calibrators from their belts, searching for the leak itself.

Katt was the first to find one. Kneeling down, she pressed her calibrator to the aperture, activating the device with a flick of her paw. The device began to hum, firing a violet beam of ions at the breach. The charged particles struck the metal plating, magnetizing it. Carefully, the feline draw the beam back and forth across the deck until the plasma scanner ceased its warnings. She could now barely see the pulses of green as charged plasma surged through the sealed conduit.

Methodically, plasma breaches were closed all over the ship. Eventually, enough had been eliminated that Leon was able to reinitialize main power, which had lain dormant until now for danger of a conduit overload.

All over the ship, the orange emergency lamps went out, the darkness being replaced almost immediately a softer, warmer glow. The air began to cool and freshen as worn scrubbers went offline and life support came fully online. The blue arcs of lightning crawling over the exterior hull ceased, replaced by a steadier glow as the hull plating polarized, then stabilized.

Shields solidified around the vessel, and auxiliary systems began to activate. While primary weapons and the stream deflector were both still offline, the ship was in much better condition now than it had been several hours ago.

* * *

"Leran, we're looking at about a 75 percent system restoration here." The communications link was full of interference, but the otter's form was still distinguishable through the static.

"Do you have weapons?" he inquired. When wolf answered in the negative, Leran looked disappointed. He turned away to glance at some consoles that were out of Wolf's vision, before turning back again. "We can't fly cover for you much longer. Our ship needs to replenish its plasma reservoirs, or we'll be sitting ducks out here."

"Understood," replied Wolf. "Go on ahead. We'll have the ship back to combat status within a day or two. We'll catch up at Eloria."

"Take care," was the response, then the link was terminated. A pitch from Katt's console indicated the Lady Elorian's departure, as did a distant, virtually invisible flare of burning plasma ions that flared a deep sapphire against the void before winking out.

The next day, however, the crew of the Cornerian Wolf was in a frenzy, working tirelessly to repair weapons and the stream deflector. Leon's voice was almost constantly on the intercom, calling out the estimated time of arrival fo two Grallian cruisers, headed directly for their current position.

Success came only several hours before the arrival of the Grallians. Immediately, the carrier leapt to warp, the blue stream forming flawlessly around them as the engines flared. The bridge was silent as Katt monitored the sensor data, watching as the Grallian ships drew ever nearer.

Abruptly, the vessel was rocked by a series of sharp jolts. Wolf looked over at Katt, expectant. The feline was surveying the panel before her. Several moments later, she looked up, face grim.

"They've launched fighters. Somehow, a few of them managed to get into the tail of our warp stream. They're catching up."

"How many?" asked Leon. The answer was not pleasant.

"Ten, give or take a few," answered Katt. Instantly, the lizard began to swear.

"We don't have the firepower to fend off ten fighters and two cruisers simultaneously," he snapped. "We barely have enough to take on a single cruiser, let alone two. You'd better have something in your head, Wolf, or we're all going down."

Seconds later, the shields flared as they were struck by laser bolts. Wolf brought up a stern view on the viewpanes. He watched it intently for a moment, then turned to Leon.

"Take out the fighter on point, try to make the explosion as big as possible. If we've got any luck, it'll destabilize the stream behind us." His command was executed seconds later, as the two aft torpedo launchers discharged crimson warheads, twin stars that spiraled towards the fighter on point. Although the pilot was able to dodge the double-barreled shot, the pilot behind him was not so lucky. With a brilliant explosion, the fighter was pulverized, a shockwave expanding outwards to shred the lead fighter.

The Cornerian Wolf rocked as the warp stream directly behind them collapsed in upon itself, the impact flinging the carrier ahead faster than it was ever intended to go. With a splintering crash, the Cornerian Wolf was flung out of the still-unformed leading edge of the warp stream, dropping it back into normal space for an instant before the stream caught up, picking it up and throwing it forwards again in a violent surge of speed.

There was a low hum that fell in pitch as several systems began to fail, the shock damaging power relays and computer channels all over the ship. There was a bright flare of sapphire light from the carrier's prow, washing over the outer hull in a ripple of color. Within seconds, red lamps flared on all over the bridge as the computers began to register damage.

"We've lost the stream deflector again," reported Katt, "as well as the navigational computer."

"Weapons are still functioning, as are other tactical systems."

"Sublight engines remain undamaged, but they're a bit sluggish."

"Katt, can you compensate?" That was Wolf, surveying a diagram of the ship at his console. "It looks like a pathway failure."

"Negative, the computer channels in that area have been fused together. We can't bypass them without having to take more systems offline."

"No time for that," announced Leon, voice curt. "Here they come!" Even as he spoke, the bridge was bathed in a violent white glare as the dorsal shields flared, crimson lasers hailing against its surface with a primeval fury.

Sparks flashed, and amidst the cacophony, Wolf was bellowing out orders at the top of his voice. "Reroute power to the starboard shields! Roll ninety degrees port! Lock focal lasers, fire!"

The Cornerian Wolf pivoted upon its central axis, moving slowly in comparison to the smaller patrol ships that harried it from above. After several seconds, the laser bolts began to hail down upon the reinforced shielding, prompting intense flashes of light at each impact.

The Grallians began to follow, turning towards the carrier's weaker sides. Within moments, however, the powerful focal cannons on the dorsal and ventral sides began to lash out. These patrol vessels were not the heavier craft from before, but lighter interceptors. One hit, and their shields gave way like paper, causing them to disintegrate in fiery bursts of shrapnel and wispy vapors.

As Leon swept through the Grallian vessels, Katt was fumbling across the system console, struggling to realign the stream deflector. This wasn't proving easy, as several relays had blown out some time earlier. While the Grallians regrouped, however, Katt was given a tiny interval, a window of opportunity. Seizing upon it, she bypassed the damaged relays, bringing the stream deflector back online.

Triumphant, she looked to Wolf, who nodded quickly. Katt ran through the motions of beginning a stream jump, only to be stopped as the bridge was flooded with red light. The computer was automatically blocking her attempts to engage the warp drive. Looking towards the systems panel, the lupine immediately saw the problem.

"Katt, are the navigational computers still down?"

"Looks like!" she shot back. "Still offline." As she spoke, the Cornerian Wolf began to shudder again as laser fire crashed into its shields. "We won't be able to get them online before those cruisers get here, though."

"Then we'll just have to improvise," was Wolf's curt reply. "Leon, keep them off our backs for just a moment longer! Panther, evasive maneuvers, but keep our transmission array towards Eloria!"

As the ungainly carrier struggled to dodge the weapons fire directed at its length, Wolf was rapidly punching in a transmission packet containing the ship's heading and current position. When he sent it, the lupine allowed himself a short smile.

Several minutes later, during which the communications array had miraculously escaped damage, a chime sounded as the carrier received a return message. Wolf immediately fed the information into the computers, before striding over to Panther. Reaching over the feline, Wolf tapped several keys, adjusting the carrier's heading and initializing the stream jump.

Everyone gave a sigh of relief when the azure glow of a warp stream formed around them, the long sapphire beam petering out from the forward-mounted stream deflector to leave the ship sailing alone. Panther turned to Wolf for an explanation.

"I bounced our navigational data to the Lady Elorian," he said. "They did the calculations for us. Simple." And with that, he turned, and bounded down the staircase into the systems pit, where he began the laborious task of repairing his ship once more.

Shrugging, his crew followed him, leaving the main bridge dark and silent for the second time in that many days, save for the occasional flash of sparks. Star Wolf had survived for now.


	45. On the Run

**Black Skies**

* * *

_Author's Note_: Good grief, it's been awhile. As a quick forward, I want to say that I never forgot any of you. It's not that I was busy either, although that was true. What ended up happening from my last update months ago and now was simple.

I lost my creative touch.

Not for a lack of trying—I practiced at it, wrote a few drabbles—but nothing was coming out right. I've gotten better at description, but the story, the plot—it wasn't coming together. I tried to write this chapter so many times, it's not even funny. But one thing I've learned is not to _force_ yourself to write, or you'll get nothing but a dirty mess. Overall though, thanks to everyone who stuck with this story and wanted to see it back.

* * *

**Chapter 41 On the Run**

* * *

"The Lady Elorian's slowing," called Leon, his voice sounding tinny over the damaged intercom. "They're shearing off their current trajectory and angling towards a star system."

"Roger that," replied Wolf, looking up from where he was welding a plasma conduit shut. Across the corridor, the comm. panel blinked as it registered his voice, automatically establishing an uplink to the bridge. "Set a course to investigate. Are they answering hails?"

"No, but the system they're passing through is filled with some kind of interference—it may be blocking communications."

"They might be using it to hide as well. Keep an eye on it. Also, Leon, while you're up there, open up plasma conduit beta-four."

"Got it. Did you finish repairs?"

"Only one way to find out." So saying, the lupine stepped back a few paces, wary of the mended joint. Plasma conduits were under constant pressure, and a leak would be catastrophic if left alone—but repairs were tricky, and he was unsure whether his temporary job would hold.

The question was answered moments later, as the dim emergency lights blinked off and a brighter, cleaner white filled the hallways, the inset panels glowing with a soft brilliance. Darkened displays flared to life, and the deck was restored to a semblance of normalcy, ignoring the slightly scorched deck plates where Wolf had applied the welder liberally and the occasional blown-out screen.

After a moment, the comm. panel flashed again. "Everything all right down there?"

"Fine, Leon. Rest of the deck is good, I presume?"

"…there's a .2% drop in pressure, but that's only to be expected. It'll normalize in a few hours."

"Alright, that's one piece of good news. Where are we on systems?"

"90%. We're battle-ready."

"Good to hear," said Wolf. "I'll be on the bridge in a moment, then."

Within a few minutes, Leon heard the telltale rush of air behind him as the lift came to a halt, decelerating to a smooth stop. The doors opened, and Wolf stepped onto the command platform, directly facing the crystal viewpanes at the bridge's front from behind the bridge consoles. The room pulsed with a rhythmic blue light as the walls of the Cornerian Wolf's warp stream sped by, rippling with streaks of azure radiance.

"Welcome back," said Leon, eyes still fixed on a systems diagnostic on the panel before him. "We're maintaining speed at factor six or so."

"Not fast enough, but it'll have to do," replied Wolf. "Anything on sensors?"

"Nothing. We may be in the clear, although I doubt it. The black hole will only throw off their readings for so long."

"We just need time enough to reach the Eloria System, that's all." Wolf paused, remembering the pursuits of the last few weeks. "Not that that's been all too comforting before." Silence followed the remark, and Wolf took the time to look out over the ship's dorsal hull. Numerous scorch marks pitted the metallic surface, and most of the reflective armor had been blown away during the numerous battles since their departure from Lylat. The twin muzzles of the dorsal plasma cannons still poked menacingly from behind their cowlings, reminders that the ship was still a dangerous foe, despite its damaged state.

The moment was lost as a slow, but incessant beep began to sound from the operations console. Wolf stood beside it in mere seconds, surveying the sensor readouts intently. "We've lost contact with the Lady Elorian. It seems they've entered the nebula."

"At least that means we're close to Eloria. We can hide in the nebulae there for as long as we need."

"We still have to get there first. Bring the weapons and defenses online—something always comes up."

"Agreed. All weapons online. Just remember, we'll need to refuel the plasma core the moment we enter the nebula."

* * *

For the next few hours, an unbroken silence descended on the ship. Katt and Panther continued repairs on the lower decks, while Wolf retired to the hangar deck to service the Wolfens. Leon maintained his vigil at the sensor posts, one hand resting on the communications system at all times.

Wolf's concern only deepened when Leon pinged the hangar to alert him to unidentified disturbances in the area of space behind them—and worse, in front of them. Knowing full well that these could be cloaked or concealed ships, Wolf redoubled his efforts, finishing the tempering of Leon's and Panther's Wolfens before moving on to Katt's.

He had just finished the job on his own Wolfen when the red alert klaxons sounded. Wolf's curses echoed off the steel walls as he ran for the lift shaft. Only one thing would cause Leon to sound a red alert at this stage.

"We must really have ticked them off," was Leon's only comment as Wolf emerged on the bridge, seeing Katt and Panther already at their stations. On the viewpanes, Leon superimposed a sensor readout of the surrounding area. A number of glowing red spheres showed the location of a number of Grallian ships, with lines of text scrolling near each individual mark as the computer guessed as to its nature.

"We're looking at three light carriers, two cruisers, and maybe five patrol craft," said Leon. "We're in a nasty spot, that's for sure."

"Panther, options? Do you see any courses around those ships?"

"If we had the same speed as them, then maybe we could. But we're a fair bit slower, so no. We can't outrun them," replied Panther.

"Nor can we take them out in a direct confrontation," said Katt. "You'd better take a look at the inventory, Wolf—we're running low on torpedoes, and our supply of plasma for the weapons is running dry. We'll have to start pulling power from the core if you want to use the plasma cannons for any heavy fighting."

"So we can't outrun them, and we can't take them all on at once," summarized Wolf. "So it looks like this will be the plan—we just punch through they're weakest points. If we can make the nebula, we're good—does everyone agree about that?" When no objections were voiced, he continued. "We'll continue at warp speed until we're just outside of sensor range, and then we'll initiate another warp stream. Panther, I'll need you to generate this stream, but keep the ship outside of the entrance vortex."

"A decoy," said Panther, frowning as he contemplated the maneuver. "It's doable, but it'll take a lot of power."

"You've got it—if this doesn't work, we're dead anyway." Wolf surveyed the viewpanes once more, before pointing at a cluster of three dots. "We'll aim right there, for those two patrol craft and the carrier. We know they can destroy our warp streams, so after the decoy is set, we'll proceed at maximum sublight for the nebula. Panther and I will cover you in the Wolfens. Everyone clear on that?"

"Crystal."

* * *

The Cornerian Wolf shuddered as a pulse erupted from the stream deflector, streaking out into the void before the ship's prow. There was a great flash of white, and the warp stream fell away around them, shedding from the carrier in wisps of azure smoke. Across the ship, panels flickered and lights dimmed as the deflector immediately began to charge once more, allowing no time for the capacitors to regain their power.

A thick beam emanated from the bow as four tracers erupted from the aft fins, converging on a point in the distance. The moment the central beam and the four rays of cobalt light intersected, a vortex exploded from the point of collision, expanding with great speed until it was wide enough for the Cornerian Wolf to slip through into the waiting stream beyond.

Instead, the two retrorocket quads on the port and starboard sides flared to life, great plumes of ion flame belching forth as the carrier fought against the gravitational pull of the entrance vortex. The ship pivoted, slowly pointing its prow towards the vortex's starboard side. Then, in an instant, both retrorockets shut down and the main sublight engines blazed, catapulting the ship forward and wresting free of the vortex. For a moment, they could see the warp stream as a rippling bland of blue, before it winked out of the visible spectrum.

"It's on sensors," noted Leon. "It's headed right at their lines—their cruisers are moving to intercept."

"Perfect. Make for the target coordinates, best speed!"

The stars hurtled by, blurring as the Cornerian Wolf approached the threshold of hyperlight speeds, shuddering as its engines hurtled it forwards. Leon focused on the viewpanes, scarcely blinking as he tracked the progress of the Grallian squadron. In a moment, he saw two smaller blue dots emerging, and seconds later, attained visual contact with Wolf and Panther's fighters, which spiraled up across the carrier's bows and took up station off both sides.

The ruse did not work for long. After a few minutes, the warp stream collapsed, becoming unstable with no computer to keep its many parts in harmony. With the decoy now gone, the patrol ships scrambled as they registered the engine signature of the Cornerian Wolf, which was still barreling directly towards its target.

"Wolf, we have five minutes to destroy those ships. You and Panther need to take out that carrier."

"Understood. Leon, get rid of the patrol vessels—particularly if they have missiles. Use torpedoes if you have to, but be careful."

"Acknowledged." In the distance, the faint shapes of the two patrol craft came into view, forming a defensive screen for the more vulnerable carrier. On radar, a flurry of dots erupted from the ship in the rear, indicating the launch of enemy fighters. Secure in his cockpit, Wolf cracked his knuckles and settled himself comfortably in his seat.

"And here's where the fun begins."

Wolf and Panther simultaneously gunned their engines, a plume of violet ions ripping out of their engines as wing boosters engaged, pressing them back in their seats. Ahead, Wolf saw both patrol craft peeling off, and let them pass, instead going straight through the screen and pushing on to the carrier.

The two patrol craft were flummoxed for a moment, realizing their gamble had not been called, and that the Wolfens were on an intercept course for the valuable carrier. One pulled a tight turn that would be more befitting of an interceptor, leaving the other to contend with the Cornerian Wolf.

Panther saw the closing threat, and with a quick signal to Wolf—a flashing red light on the comm. panel—he brought his Wolfen up and around in a sharp semi-circle, facing the oncoming patrol vessel nose-to-nose.

The feline squeezed the trigger, and viridian lasers streaked from the nose cannon, scoring hits against the patrol craft's frontal shielding before Panther was forced to bank away to avoid a collision. To his dismay, the Grallian vessel was mostly unharmed, and continued closing after Wolf, missile bays opening on the ventral hull.

Panther lunged forward on the control stick, plunging the Wolfen's nose downwards and pitching in another semicircle in the opposite direction, coming up with the Grallian's underbelly directly above his nose.

Two missiles streaked from his launchers, exploding with tremendous force against the patrol craft's underside as the Grallian missiles were just leaving their ports. The intense heat immediately detonated the entire payload, and as Panther swerved to avoid the resulting debris and smoke, he could see fires burning through the gutted ventral hull, support girders standing starkly against the inferno raging within.

Wolf saw the explosion in his rearview cameras, watching as the patrol vessel reeled upwards, burning vigorously as it drifted without power. He turned his focus back to the carrier ahead, just as a brilliant flare of light signaled the vessel's destruction as Leon pierced it through with a focal laser. Panther rejoined the formation moments later.

Ahead, they could see fighters beginning to emerge from the carrier's hull, some circling in a defensive screen, others just starting their engines. With no time for speech, Wolf flipped a toggle switch, causing a blue lamp to blink on Panther and Wolf's screens, signaling he would go for the hangar doors.

The green targeting reticule before him flashed, and Wolf depressed the trigger, firing a flight of missiles at the formation of fighters. He noted one breaking off and launching a massive spread of flares, screening the rest of his group as they pivoted to pursue him. Unshaken by this new development, he opened fire with his powerful nose cannon, decimating the squadron that had been caught in the act of turning.

Ahead were the hangar doors, and Wolf launched another flight of high-yield missiles before pulling up sharply to throw the locks of his pursuers. He was vaguely aware of Panther, who was crossing his wake to strafe the fighters behind Wolf.

A low chirp alerted him that he was crossing into the Cornerian Wolf's weapon arcs, and he banked sharply to avoid the hail of plasma bolts that filled the space behind him with burning thunderbolts of energy. His fighter shuddered as the projectiles impacted against the carrier's shields, erupting into flame as the shields flickered, warding off the onslaught of heat.

The ventral focal laser carved a shimmering swath through the Grallian vessel's shields as it turned to avoid a collision. Torpedoes thundered from aft launchers to pepper the Grallian's taxed shields further, exploding with vicious force and hurtling debris in all directions.

A yellow light began to shine on Wolf's HUD, and he made his way back to the Cornerian Wolf, unleashing a hail of missiles at the remaining patrol craft that was attempting to get inside the Cornerian Wolf's defensive screen, beam lasers lancing out to crash against the shielding, drawing an intense blaze of light from the protective barrier. Passing in front of the patrol vessel's bridge, Wolf dropped a hail of flares, hoping to blind the bridge crew. The gambit worked, and a moment later, the Cornerian Wolf sent a focal laser straight through the Grallian ship at point blank range, destroying it in a tremendous explosion.

Wolf heard Leon swear as the carrier suffered from the proximity of the explosion, shields around the ship's stern failing. Wolf dropped back to cover this breach in the defenses as Panther pressed on , keenly aware of the passage of time.

With ruthless efficiency, Panther destroyed the other set of hangar doors, passing by the set that Wolf had reduced to scrap metal just a minute earlier. Shooting down two fighters that attempted to cross his prow, the feline made a wide, sweeping turn and came down on a long attack run, strafing the Grallian carrier's ventral hull with a flurry of missiles and laser fire.

The bridge was hit, and the strained shields collapsed, allowing three missiles to slam into the thin armor plating, blowing it away and destroying the bridge in an instant. As the ship reeled, now without a command center, a well-placed torpedo sailed into the charred remains of the bridge, bypassing the flickering shields and detonating within the ship's hull. The Grallian carrier disintegrated from the inside out, pelting the retreating Cornerian Wolf with burning metal and plasma.

Leon wrenched Panther away from his moment of supreme self satisfaction, urgency tingeing his voice as he shouted, "We're out of time! Their cruisers will be right on top of us in half a minute!"

The Cornerian Wolf turned tail and fled, Panther and Wolf landing at high speeds just as Leon went to warp. With the ruse up, it would be up to a straightforward stern chase to see who would emerge the victor that day.


End file.
